The legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Four Shadows
by Zelda12343
Summary: Hyrule has been quiet for awhile. Now, however, when Hyrule is on the brink of darkness and Zelda is cursed, the hero Link must split himself into four again. But can Link trust himself this time? Rated T for eventual romance and violence. Please R
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Once upon a time, long ago, in Hyrule, a time of great danger fell upon the people. A dark, monstrous being terrorized them, but not even their bravest warriors could compete with him. After all, he, Ganon, had a third of the sacred power of the goddesses: the Triforce._

_The people prayed for a hero—no, a miracle. But for a long time, none came, and Ganon ruled the land. Then, both their prayers were answered when a child appeared._

_Oh, there had been heroes before, but not of the magnitude of this one. _

_He was cloaked in nothing but green, and his name was Link. He was a Hylian. That's all anyone ever knew about this hero. He was a quiet hero, only talking when absolutely necessary. Even then, he said little._

_However, the people didn't mind their hero's mysterious ways. They liked them, actually. And when he defeated Ganon with just a sword against all of Ganon's magic, the people revered him. Not a child born didn't know the name Link. However, this mysterious hero didn't bask in this glory. He disappeared. He moved on to those who needed him more._

_However, he came again, was reincarnated as another little boy in green. Many times over, he came to save the people. By now, every ten years, every boy who was born was named Link, and all young men were adorned with green. But few were the hero himself. The hero was reincarnated only when the need was most dire. More often, they turned to another hero: their princess. Every first daughter born into the royal family carried the name of the first one: Zelda._

_One time, however, not even the hero Link could cope with the evil he faced. So thus, by some happy accident, when he drew out his sacred blade, he was split into four. Though they were all the hero Link, they were very different. Oh, they all fought with a sword, but that sword was minute in comparison to them and their special items._

_The first, Link cloaked in green and known as Link the Leader, was the one with the original personality. He would defend Zelda and Hyrule even beyond death. He was said to use the power of the wind itself when he threw his boomerang. It is also said that he was the only one with the Triforce on his hand._

_The second, Link cloaked in red and known as Red the Swift, was to green Link as night is to day. He was talkative, outgoing, cheerful, and tended to take things less seriously than green Link. However, in the nitty-gritty of battle, he was fiercely devoted to his fellow heroes, and used his wand of icy fire in a swift yet careful hand._

_The third, Link cloaked in blue and known as Blue the Fierce, was by far the strongest. He was also the one with the shortest temper, and tended to become upset over little things. Admittedly, though, his short fuse and pure, raw power, combined with the hammer he wielded, made him more than a match for his foes._

_The fourth, Link cloaked in violet and known as Vio the Stealthy, was the only one who kept the mystery component that the original hero had. He was the quietest, but when he did talk, he usually solved the puzzled they encountered easily. When he faced off with enemies, he was usually the one they never knew about until they had an arrow from his extremely carefully-aimed bow in their hearts._

_There was said to be a fifth as well, but nothing is known of this Dark Link except his eventual turning to the light side, though it cost him his life._

_These four (or possibly five) have only been seen once in Hylian history. But it is said that in the time that Hyrule will need them the most, they'll be back. And then, all of Hyrule's foes will tremble at their combined might._

"Yeah, right!" came a voice, interrupting her reading.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01: Link and Zelda**

The princess put down her book and sighed.

"Oh, Link, you really should pay more attention!" she declared gently. She was too kind, besides the fact that they'd been best friends since birth, and couldn't chastise him well. However, he barely needed it.

"Zelda, why do read all that anyway?" he asked in the same tone.

"For all we know, you could be the hero!" she declared.

"Why would there be a need for one in these times? The most heroic thing I've ever done is rescue my sister's telescope when it fell down a toilet! And then, I got a medal!" he smiled at her. Seventeen years of knowing one another made sure that they had thousands of memories between the two.

Zelda laughed at that memory. Aryll, seven years younger than Link, had actually cut out a paper medal for him and had idolized him ever since.

"Yes, I remember," she continued laughing.

"Anyway, there are several reasons why I couldn't be the great hero. First of all, Hyrule's not in peril right now. Second of all, about half the boys in my class are named Link and wear green," he finished.

"Still, it's nice to imagine," she replied.

"You imagine too much, dear Zelda," he told her gravely. "Now come on. I want you to come to the Dojo with me today. If I win the match, I'll graduate!"

Link trained at the Dojo of the Blade Brothers, as he'd been doing for about seven years now. The brothers were pretty cool, but they were so tough on their students. Particularly Swiftblade and Swiftblade the First. Well, Zelda was unsure if Swiftblade the First even counted. He was dead, after all.

Link heaved Zelda to her feet and took her outside, to where Epona was waiting. They both hopped on, and Link went as fast as he dared. Zelda loved the speed. On the way, they waved to Anju, the cuckoo lady, as most people called her. She and her mother, and her grandmother, and her grandmother's mother, and so on, had been selling cuckoos in Hyrule Castle Town supposedly longer than Hyrule town had been around, which she was very proud of.

As Link dashed to the Dojo, he found to his surprise that Aryll was waiting for him outside. He also noticed that she had Beth, Talo, Malo, and Colin with her. These four were from Ordon village, and, like all Ordonians, were extremely proud of this fact. After all, the last known hero known as Link had been from there. However, the Kokiri claimed that they were more important. Not only did the great Hero of Time hail from Kokiri Forest, but so did the great protectress of the forest, Saria. But the Ordonians didn't care.

Link could also see that Malon, his friend from Lon Lon ranch, and her father, Talon, were there as well. Lon Lon ranch didn't really have anything of interest when visited, but the milk that was produced from there was so good, people jokingly warned other people that it was the most addicting stuff in Hyrule. Malon had tried to interest Link in some once, but he'd never had any.

"All of you are here to watch me fight and probably lose against that whiny kid from Kokiri forest?" Link asked, incredulous.

"Yep," Beth smiled. "And Renado and Luda are here as well!" Renado smiled at Link, and Luda bowed.

"I don't think you'll lose," Renado spoke wisely. "You're seventeen, and have been training here since age ten."

"Yeah. Mido has too," Link warned.

"You'll win, Link!" declared Colin obstinately. Much like Aryll, he practically worshipped Link.

Reassured by his friends, Link entered the Dojo.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02: Mido and the Tower of spirits**

**Author's Note: **_Okay, so just to clarify, this Hyrule is a mixture of all of them, including elements such as Kokiri forest (Oot), Ordon village (Tp), the Tower of Spirits (Spirit Tracks), etc. It will also have some of my temples and regions, but for the most part, it won't. Also, I've been giving out short chapters, but I'll try to lengthen them. Now, without ado, let's go!_

Mido and Link both drew their swords and bowed respectfully to one another before beginning to fight.

Ever since the two boys had entered the Dojo, they'd been rivals. It wasn't that Link had anything against the Kokiri, but he and Mido hated one another fiercely. They had both waited for this day. The winner would graduate from the Dojo, while the loser would have to keep training. Link was determined to win. Normally, he would win fights with little or no effort. Unfortunately for him, so did Mido. And they were just about evenly matched. But Link had something in this battle that his opponent did not: a crowd to cheer him on.

"Ready to lose, Princess' pet?" Mido asked, smirking.

"At least I don't have a fairy who screams at me 24/7," Link replied.

"It's a Kokiri tradition! We don't find their 'Hey! Listen!' obnoxious. They're just honoring the most annoying fairy of all, Navi," Mido shot back.

"Thanks for the history lesson that I didn't need," Link smiled coolly.

Mido slashed at him carefully. Link jumped aside, feeling the cool air rush across his bare upper body. He was, for once, glad that neither of them wore shirts in the Dojo. It was getting really warm in there.

He slashed carefully at Mido, but missed. Mido stabbed, but Link parried and feinted to the right. Mido of course put up his sword to stop him, but Link had a trick up his sleeve. He pulled his sword away at the last minute and aimed for Mido's exposed side. Link's admiring crowd cheered as Link drew first blood. Thankfully, he could already tell that the cut wouldn't be bad. But it would be painful for Mido. And it would make him mad.

Indeed, he slashed angrily at Link now. Link parried as best he could, but Mido managed to stab his right arm, thankfully the one that he didn't fight with. Link collapsed in pain, nicking his opponent's ankle with his sword. As soon as he rose, he stabbed quickly.

The battle got pretty fierce from there. Link and Mido were both very badly injured, but kept going at one another for hours. After about five hours had passed, Mido finally managed to slash Link across the cheek. Link gasped and heard Zelda scream as he almost fainted. However, just as he hit the floor, he slammed Mido over the head with the hilt of his sword. Mido crumpled, stunned, almost immediately. Link, miraculously, managed to stay conscious. He tapped his left hand, feeling power surge through him. As a matter of fact, he felt his urge to faint lessen slightly. The symbol of the triangle there surprised him, but it sure was useful.

"Winner: Link!" shouted master Swiftblade. Link smiled at his supporters and stood up, using all the stamina he had to stumble over to Renado. Thankfully, he had a poultice on hand to apply to the cut. Link pulled on his shirt, dabbed on the ointment, and sauntered out of the Dojo for the last time.

"Where are you going?" Zelda asked.

"Tower of Spirits," he replied. "I feel relaxed there."

At the Tower of Spirits, was greeted by his usual feeling of comfort.

"Hello, Link," Anjean, guardian of the tower, said with a smile. He had no clue how old she was, but he found her interesting. She was the queen of the Lokomo guardians, and besides Rael, she was the only one that didn't make Link feel… odd. The rest were rather wimpy.

"The usual, please," he requested. Anjean pulled a lever, and Link found a set of stairs leading downwards. He'd been leaving the exploration of this find for today. As he leapt down the stairs, he was stunned to find the room he was in.

It looked like an ordinary room, but it was filled with cobwebs. Link killed all of the spiders and continued the exploration. In the center of the room, he found a pile of wood, which he set on fire to bring more light into the room. When he found the sort of room he was in, he was shocked at the beauty.

On a central platform, five statues stood. Nearby, another platform revealed another figure. And on the walls, there were vivid paintings and mosaics, the likes of which had rarely been seen in Hyrule.

At the central platform, Link examined the first of the five statues. It was darkly colored, but otherwise could've been his brother. The figure had grey hair and glowing red eyes, but Link could see that he wasn't wicked. Something about his posture. Then, he turned carefully to face the second figure.

He looked just like Link, but with an oddly determined expression.

The third figure didn't have the same unsettling resemblance, though he looked similar. He was slightly shorter and slimmer, and his hair was longer, but just a little. He was smiling and appeared to be telling a joke or something.

The fourth figure looked extremely angry. At what, Link didn't know. He was the biggest of all of the statues, his bulk pure muscle. His hair was cropped shorter. It barely showed beneath his cap. Link found him to be a little menacing.

Finally, he turned to face the fifth and final figure on the platform. This one was one to fear. Link could sense that in a battle, he'd be most wary of this one. His expression was calm and thoughtful, but Link could sense something in his eyes. A sort of glint that let you know that this one wasn't one to be taken lightly. He was lean and muscular, as though he trained extremely hard. His hair was a similar length to the third one's, but a little longer. Link was fascinated by this figure. He had a sort of… handsomeness that was clearer than the others. Link could tell that this one would be a good ally.

He was the last of the figures that didn't scare Link. The other one on the other platform just terrified him. His expression and appearance were similar to that fifth one, but instead of having that glint of authority, his eyes held a gleam of madness. Instead of a mouth set in a neutral position, it was curled into a frightening smile. Link turned away from this one quickly and started to look at the paintings.

The first one depicted three triangles, close together, surrounded by six people that Link knew to be the sages of legend.

The man who looked slightly like a king was labeled 'Rauru, sage of knowledge.' Link was amused. He hadn't known that there had to be a sage of knowledge. He thought all of the sages possessed that quality.

The small girl who appeared to be a Kokiri was labeled 'Saria, sage of Forests.'

The goron that Link was sure was an elder was labeled 'Darunia, sage of Fire.'

The Zora girl that Link was sure should think more about clothes was labeled 'Ruto, sage of Water.' Link knew that this was his least favorite. Who would pick a sage who didn't wear anything?

The tall, formidable-looking Sheikah woman was labeled 'Impa, sage of Shadows.' Link didn't relish the thought of meeting _her_ in the Shadows. He would probably emerge with a lump on his forehead.

Finally, the Gerudo woman who Link was sure was the prettiest Gerudo he'd ever seen was labeled 'Nabooru, sage of Spirits.'

But then, another picture caught his eye. This one was much more recent and showed six people surrounding a monster with a yellow body and purplish tentacles. He hadn't heard of them, the 'guardians'. Oh, he'd heard some of their names, but not in this context. He read their labels as well.

One of the men who's determined expression surprised Link upon reading the name was 'Linebeck, guardian of Oceans.' He'd heard of Linebeck, who was remembered for chickening out on the hero at random moments.

A girl who Link knew to be his sister had the name 'Aurora, guardian of Islands.' Why didn't she sound familiar?

Another boy, this one with a bow drawn, had the title 'Karola, guardian of warriors.' Link found this one funny. He was dressed in what appeared to be a long robe, and had very long hair. He should've been the guardian of magic.

A girl who Link knew to be Karola's sister was known as 'Heole, guardian of magic.' Now _they_ were really messed up. She was dressed in combat armor and had shorter hair.

A girl with long brown hair who looked as though she were the leader of them was named 'Vasilia, guardian of chivalry.' Link was sure that besides Zelda, he'd never seen anyone so beautiful.

A boy who looked barely older than Link himself and looked like Vasilia's brother was named 'Selaya, guardian of light.' Like his sister, he had an extremely determined expression.

Finally, Link turned to the final painting depicting people and was sorely disappointed. Only one person was in it. He looked Minish in body type. However, unlike any Link had ever seen, this one had glowing red eyes and grayish skin. He was named 'Vaati, one of three guardians of darkness.' Link knew his story. He'd terrorized Hyrule for awhile, but had then joined the side of good, after reverting to his original, adorable form. However, his evil was still sealed within the 'four sword,' the sacred blade wielded by the four heroes.

He barely had time to puzzle over the other two empty places when he heard a voice whimpering "Help… me…"

He turned around to see an absolutely tiny individual, about the length of one of his arms. She was shivering, and her eyes were closed. Link raced over in concern, and picked up her limp body. When he could barely feel her heart and her shivering lessened for a moment, he feared she was dead. Then, her large, yellow eyes opened for a moment. They seemed to be begging Link.

And why wouldn't they be? She was obviously beginning to submit to hypothermia, and she was an unnatural pale color. Even her hair was that pale-ish color. Link examined her, finding no trace of injury, but he could feel her tiny hand was almost frozen off from being down in the basement for so long.

"Please…" she whimpered again.

"Who are you?" he asked, upon finding strange, glowing markings on her arms.

"Twilight… Princess… Midna…" was her faint reply.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03: Midna's rescue**

**Author's note: **_Okay, I know I've got a few readers. Please review as soon as the story becomes more exciting. Also, this is just an announcement that my policy will be to update on Friday. However, until I get the story going, I'll be updating nightly. Also, this story, despite hints in this chapter, isn't strictly Midna x Link. I have a little surprise in store for you regarding her!_

Link was shocked. Midna was supposedly a beautiful princess in a realm known as 'the twilight realm' who had lived around the same time as the last hero who'd borne the name Link. Could she still be alive?

_Unless you stop daydreaming, she won't be for much longer,_ a voice snapped in his head as she began shivering again. He still wasn't sure what to do, though. As likely as not, she could be part of a trap. After all, there was no way that she could still be alive!

But then, her large, yellow eyes opened again. They met his for a moment, and he saw that they were clearly begging for him to help her. Her hair, now pale like her body, curled around his neck, not in a threatening way, though. As he lifted her closer for a moment, that tiny hand that he'd marveled at the coldness before touched his cheek. It startled him, but he could feel that she was reaching out to her last hope. How could he resist her? She'd die otherwise!

Suddenly, her eyes closed and her hand dropped back to her side. He could feel her breathing was slowing. Alarmed, he realized his first objective was to get her warmer. He opened his shirt slightly and, much as he would do with a kitten, he rested her small form against his chest. Her hair was still around his neck, supporting her, but he put his other arm around her. She wasn't shivering as vigorously when met with his warmth, but he could barely feel her chest moving up and down. He had to get her to Renado, and fast.

He raced up the stairs, met by Anjean, who actually didn't look very surprised.

"Run for her life," she declared. And he did. He raced as fast as his legs could carry him, using one arm to shield her and the other to hold her close. He ran like this until they reached Hyrule castle, where, unsurprisingly, Zelda was waiting for him.

"Good gracious, Link! Why are you running? And who is this?" she asked when seeing Midna.

"No time! I've got to see Renado! Where is he?" he puffed.

"In the library. Can you explain later?" she understood his urgency, but was still curious.

He nodded and rushed to the library. Renado stood up upon seeing him, obviously confused. However, he came forward to examine Midna. No matter how strange the patient, Renado would gladly treat it. He was rumored to be the wisest shaman in all of Hyrule.

But now, there was one problem: she wouldn't let go of Link.

Somehow, her hands found energy to grasp both of his shoulders. When Renado tried to pull her off, she screamed "NOOOO!"

"Midna, I need you to let him pry you off," Link muttered sheepishly.

"NO!"

"Midna, it's for your own good!"

"NO!"

Link looked a little upset. "I know that I rescued you and all, but please let go. You're embarrassing me!"

"No!" her voice was getting weaker, as though she'd spent all her energy on this.

"Okay, somebody get me a crowbar," Link snapped.

"Don't worry, Link," Renado smiled, amused. "I managed to diagnose it. She is from the twilight realm, and thus, she is suffering from the shock of being thrown into ours. All I can prescribe to help her would be lots of warmth and 24/7 care. It seems, Link, that she has selected you."

"Huh?" Link was confused.

"See, when Twili, the race of the twilight realm, go to the light world, they select a single individual to be their guide, or, in extreme cases, their caretaker. Seeing how she has reacted to you, it appears that she selected you."

"Aw, Farore," Link muttered. "So I'll have an injured Twili to take care of for awhile?"

"Yes," Renado said in an apologetic tone.

"I'll visit your house later," Zelda said, also amused. "You'll need help with this Twili."

Link sighed and walked outside Midna still clinging to him like a baby marsupial (though Link had pulled her out of his shirt a while ago), where he was met with a surprise.

Standing there, in typical Ordonian fashion, holding Epona's bridle, was an old, dear friend.

"Hi, Link," smiled Ilia. "Sorry that I missed your graduation battle in the Dojo. Epona's hooves needed polishing."

He smiled in return. There were rumors that Ilia was his girlfriend, but he could never see her that way. They were great friends, though.

"Apology accepted," he replied.

"Who's that?" she asked about Midna.

"Long story," he replied in a flat voice.

"Tell me," she replied cheerfully as the two mounted Epona and started on the way to Ordon.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04: The next shadow keeper**

"This is getting old," muttered Link.

He and Zelda had been taking care of the sleeping Twili girl for several days now. He had barely gotten any sleep, he was so worried about her recovery. Zelda had rarely gotten any sleep either. And she needed it much more than he did.

Renado also made daily stops to check on her improvement. After about a week, her original color was returning. She had rather grayish skin, with shockingly red hair, something rather rare for Twili. Her arms were covered in neon lines that Renado guessed were the symbols of the Twili. The only thing that puzzled them all was her size. Most Twili were the regular size of people. However, she stayed very small, comparatively.

"Don't worry," Zelda replied. "She'll be better soon."

"Yeah, then I'll be her guide!" Link complained. "Or her caretaker. I won't have a life of my own anymore!"

"See?" Zelda smiled. "You're the noble hero, going out of your way to help someone! Everything happens for a reason!"

That night, Link was finally able to sleep without the girl behaving like a marsupial. That night, however, it was Zelda who was plagued with worry. Her early, light-hearted statement had been just that: light-hearted. However, it was now back to haunt her. The last time Twili had been seen in Hyrule, Hyrule had been covered in twilight. Several people died, which was extremely rare thanks to the constantly reborn hero.

Zelda looked over at Link. Could he really be that reborn hero? Despite all of her claims to Link about the contrary, she doubted it intensely. Yes, he was great with a sword, and he was fast on his feet, not to mention caring, but she didn't feel that he was a hero for all of Hyrule. She sighed. All she wished would be that Link would take the hint and become _her_ hero. That's all she wanted. But he just didn't take the hint. He couldn't for the life of him understand a girl's romantic feelings, not even her's!

However, just them, she heard a quiet voice.

"Just rest, Zelda. Your hero will come."

A pair of red eyes gleamed out from the darkness. However, Zelda wasn't alarmed. Ever since her childhood, the red eyes had told her of things. She saw him as a sort of negative Link, only appearing to her at night. Though she'd never seen his face, she counted him among her best friends.

"Greetings," she smiled. She could sense his presence moving closer to her, as it began to speak again.

"Zelda, you are aware what the meaning of the return of Midna, a keeper of shadow?" Zelda shook her head as the voice continued. "It means that her power will be required, and soon. However, something realized that, and caught her on her way to Hyrule, hurting her and forcing her into this form."

"What could have done such a thing?" Zelda wondered aloud.

"An evil from the past."

"Not… ZANT?"

"I'm afraid that the shadow king of legend isn't just a legend. He's in the Twilight realm as ruler right now."

"And the meaning is…"

"Zelda, darkness is gathering at the edge of Hyrule. A very bad darkness at that. One that would make all of the hero Link's past missions seem like vacation."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"I mean that Hyrule is on the verge of changing. And you, princess, will be the one who carries most of the burden."  
"We need a hero, and fast," she declared.

"Not one, but three."

"Not four, as there were in the legend?"

"There will be a fourth, but for awhile, he'll be no hero."

Zelda could feel shock coursing through her as development after development was lobbed at her. She fainted.

When Zelda came to, she was face to face with the small imp they'd rescued a few days ago.

"Eee hee hee! Our friend's awake!" she smiled. Zelda immediately liked this cheerful little Twili, forgetting the magnitude of her coming.

"Zelda, are you okay?" Link asked in concern. She nodded, but was still uneasy.

"She didn't seem 'okay' when I found her," came a new voice. It was high and clear, like that of a Minish, but there was an edge to it that Minish normally didn't have. Zelda turned her face upward to face the owner of this new voice. It was a Minish with grayish skin, red eyes, and dressed as a sorcerer. Also, he was much cuter than a normal Minish. He was standing just above Midna, and Zelda, in shock, immediately could name him.

"You're Vaati! The wind mage!" she cried.

"Yes and no," Vaati replied. "See, like all people, I've got a good side and an evil side. A monster came to me once and sealed my good away. One of the great green-cloaked heroes sealed my wicked self into the four sword. However, my good side and evil side were split later."

Midna's eyes opened wide in shock.  
"You've heard the story of how the Dark Link of the four, actually five Links sacrificed himself?" Vaati asked. Zelda nodded.

"It's a mere myth," Link began, but Vaati held a small hand up to silence him.

"It's a story passed down by word of mouth, so it may have been changed," Vaati continued. "But the gist goes like this:

"As you may know, each Link had a special power of magic as well. However, this part isn't mentioned in the story because of its seeming repetitiveness. Link of green carried the Triforce. Link of red could conduct the winds as if he were conducting an orchestra, similar to another Link, from before. Link of blue could play an ocarina more easily and more precisely than the others, though he didn't often because he preferred battle to music. And Link of violet, more commonly known as Vio, had an extremely rare gift: veil power. It's only been recorded in history twice besides his gift."

"What's 'veil power?'" asked Link.

"It's the power to fuse and separate not only things, but people as well. However, Vio was unaware of it. On that day, when Dark Link sacrificed himself, Vio shed a single tear, very similar to the one you did, Midna, upon the parting of you and your new friends." Midna blushed.

"However, this tear managed to connect with me, splitting my benevolent Minish personality and my wicked wind mage personality. The wind mage is still out there, though…" Vaati finished. "I've felt him stirring recently."

"That's what the Glowing Red Eyes said as well, except he was talking about Zant," Zelda put in.

Both Midna and Vaati faced one another.

"So we are all feeling it," Midna whispered.

"What?" asked Link.

"It appears that the Glowing Red Eyes are none other than that Dark Link who sacrificed himself. Like Link the hero, he was reborn," Vaati explained.

"What are you referring to?" asked Zelda.

"We are shadow bearers," Midna added. "Bearers of the fused shadows, the embodiment of twilight and darkness, and shadow of course. I wear mine on my head," she drew attention to her head piece.

"I hold the second as a charm around my neck that enhances my power," Vaati pulled out the charm.

"And Dark Link wears his as a breast plate," they finished together.

"And the fourth shadow shard?" Zelda asked. Midna looked fearful.

"Our enemies have it," Vaati whispered. A sudden cold settled over them all.

Outside, they heard a shriek. It didn't sound quite… human.

Link drew his sword, and the bearers of shadow followed him.

Zelda followed behind them.

"It's beginning!" shouted Midna from the door. "Hyrule's collapse has begun!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05: the four sword sanctuary**

**Author's note: **_I've been checking my traffic lately, and it appears that I've got some readers! Yay! Thank you! Well, aside from that, I'd love it if I got a few reviews. It's about to get really intense._

_Also, I introduce Link's surname in this chapter. If it is a surname from another character from another book or something, please forgive me._

Link was the first outside, and was face to face with what looked like a devil of sorts. He was very small, wore handsome green, and was bald except for his two horns. He appeared to be battling Ilia. When she slashed at him with a small knife that she carried around with her, he shrieked. Link now knew where the shouting had come from.  
"Stay away from her!" Link declared. The little imp laughed at him.

"And what will you do once I've called for backup?" he hissed. With that, he blew on a horn, and all of a sudden, a figure wearing an extremely strange helmet appeared behind him. He also had Twili symbols on his arms.

"Ahaha! So our hero is back?" the newcomer asked.

"It appears that I wasn't the only hero to survive your attack," smirked Midna behind him. The other Twili looked amused.

"Really, Midna, you ought to watch that sharp tongue of yours, and learn to bow to your ruler, Zant!" he shouted. Midna made a threatening face.

"Cole, teach that girl a lesson, will you?" Zant asked the imp.

"Which one?" Cole replied.

"Urgh, never mind," Zant shot at him.

Ilia continued stabbing at Cole until he threw her backwards with a wave of twilit energy. She screamed and hit the ground. Though the brunt of the attack missed her, even the portion that hit her was enough to knock her senseless.

That was all Link could take. He slashed his sword angrily at Cole, grazing his side. Zant prepared his twilit energy, but before he could, another wave of dark energy reverberated through the clearing.

Vaati now stood in the doorway, proud, but extremely small. One of his hands was aloft, as if preparing to strike again. However, he didn't seem to have to. Immediately, Zant and Cole gasped when seeing him.  
"He's…" Zant began in a quieting voice.

"So…" Cole continued. Vaati looked surprised but entered battle stance. He'd been in this situation before.

"Cute." The two finished. That was it for them. Vaati's eyes glowed, and he raced towards the two as fast as he could.

"Don't!" He spat. "Call! Me! CUTE!" with that, he began attacking the two mercilessly.

== The next scene of the carnage Vaati inflicts upon these two hapless villains has been censored for the greater good of the public. It has been deemed 'too gory' for an Adventure/Romance story.==

As soon as Vaati was finished ripping into them, Zant used his twilight warping abilities to get them both out of there as quickly as he could.

Everyone seemed stunned, especially when Vaati calmly dusted off his cloak. The pieces of flesh, bone, muscle, and gut sticking to his cloak got shaken off as he did this.

Finally, Zelda spoke.

"What do we do?"

"We need a hero," Colin entered the clearing, followed by Renado. He examined Ilia, deemed her perfectly fine, and continued standing next to Colin.

"Link, have you heard of the four sword sanctuary?" Colin added. Link shook his head. Colin continued.

"Well, it's the legendary temple built to house the four sword." Link now understood what they wanted him to do.

"You mean, all of a sudden, I've got to pull out the four sword and possibly get split into four supposed heroes?" Link asked, incredulous. Zelda bit her lip, thinking back to what she'd heard, but nodded just the same.

"Why?" he asked.

"We all agree that the evil will be too much for one hero to handle," explained Vaati.

"So, you're saying that I, Link Castellan-Rose, am the hero Link?" he asked. They all nodded.

Link was dazed. However, now realizing that this was his duty, he asked Vaati for directions to the four sword sanctuary and set out. It would be a long journey. Now that he knew who he was, he realized that Hyrule's fate rested with him.

So if he messed up, Hyrule could be done for.

When he reached the inner courtyard of the four sword sanctuary, he was stunned at the brightness.

Yeah, it was dawn, but in here, it seemed that everything emitted light. Even the five statues that surrounded the sword seemed to glow. The light seemed to be brightest near the sword.

Link wondered if he was making the right choice. Vaati had warned him when giving directions that if they were wrong about him, he could die from the mere touch of the four sword. He'd been thinking it over for awhile, and realized that it didn't matter. If they were wrong, the hero was out there… somewhere… hopefully.

With that sentiment in mind, he grasped the sword, alarmed when he felt a little odd but calmed by the fact he was still alive. Lifting it over his head in what he hoped was a heroic gesture and not a dorky one, he shouted "Four Sword, lend me your power!"

He was sure it was going fine, until he blacked out. Oops.

A figure snickered from the shadow. A perfect time to carry out their plan.

He was only out for about five minutes, but when he came to again, he was shocked at what he saw.

As he climbed back up onto his feet, he realized that the four sword was in his hand still, but his hand had changed. Now, the triangle symbol he'd occasionally noticed seemed to be missing a piece in the center, and it was glowing very brightly. When he turned his head slightly, his electric green ones met with a pair of reddish-brown ones.

The boy that the eyes belonged to smiled cheerfully at him.

"Hi! Glad you pulled out the four sword! After all, you get to meet me!" his voice was higher than Link's. Link looked at this red-cloaked boy and realized that he recognized him as the smiling, small figure in the statue cluster in the Tower of Spirits. He also realized the uncanny similarity in their appearances. He also remembered a name from a legend. Red. That's who this one was. He was absolutely certain when the boy pulled out what looked like a conductor's baton and winked.

"Pay attention to me, would you?" came an indignant voice behind him. The boy belonging to the voice was extremely muscular, and slightly thicker and taller than Link. He was dressed all in blue, and Link knew him to be none other than that other Link clone: Blue.

Link couldn't help but smile when he remembered that there was another. He didn't remember the name at the time, but something nagged him.

Red and Blue saw his nervous expression and ran up to him.  
"If you needed us, we must be in a war," growled Blue. "There's no time to daydream."

"Hey, if you're worried, don't be," the cheerful Red smiled.

"Oh, don't be so quick to judge," came a high voice from the shadows. "If I were you, I'd do a lot of thinking right about now."

The three Links jumped. The figure emerged from the shadows quickly and elegantly. Link could see that shadows still cloaked him, however. It actually seemed that the shadows were following him, obscuring him from view.

"So a hero has risen," the figure continued. "Let's see how long it is until he's obliterated!"

Blue stepped forward quickly.

"You'll have to fight us all," he spat. He drew his sword and smirked.

The figure laughed an evil laugh and drew his own sword. Where the four sword was glowing with light, this one seemed to glow with darkness. It also had an odd handle. The figure fought exactly the same way as Blue, except he seemed slightly stronger.

"Who are you?" Blue gasped.

"I'm known as Shadow Link," smirked the figure.

"Wait," Red seemed to piecing something together. "So you're the fourth Link?"

"Yes."

"Also, there's something… wrong. I feel as though… well, maybe it's because our dark clone is usually called 'Dark Link.'"

"Mmm, well, that's because I'm not strictly Dark Link!"

"Huh?"

"You ask too many questions!" the figure slashed angrily at him, only to be met with Link's blade.

"You're not hurting Red or Blue!" he shouted.

The two dueled for a moment, before Shadow Link managed to trip him.

"That's cheating!" he shouted angrily.

Shadow Link seemed taken aback for a minute.

"You're right," he gasped. Link and the other two looked at him in shock. He then seemed to shudder for a moment, before, in his normal state, smirked and added "well, pity for you that I don't play by the rules."

He stabbed downward, but just then, all four present heard a song being played on an ocarina. Link recognized it. It was the song of Ordon, one of the more complicated songs to play. Just then, everyone present except Shadow Link.

When Link and Red hit the ground together, they realized that Blue was still standing—and holding an ocarina that could only be the Ocarina of Time.

"I thought you only played when you had to!" Red cried.

"Here, I had to," replied Blue.

"Well, well, well," came a voice from behind them. "Pulled out the four sword, did we?"

Standing there was Midna. She had Vaati and Zelda behind her.

"What did he do?" came a confused, sleepy voice. Malon came out of Ilia's house. "I spent the night at Ilia's because I wanted to see Midna—oh!"

Blue realized her eyes were on him.

"Um… uh…" he stammered. "Yeah, basically, um, Link got, uh split."

"Well, there can never be too much of a good thing," she smiled at the three and turned to face Midna.

"So you're that one who was sick?" she asked. Midna nodded.

Malon smiled and said, "Well, want some milk?" Midna declined politely.

"Hey, Link, I'd like to get to know your clones, too. Come stop at the ranch a little later," she finished and walked off.

"Link, did you ever notice how pretty Malon was?" Blue asked.

"Shut it," Link replied sheepishly.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06: first flight**

"Okay…" Red interrupted the awkward moment by speaking. "As you may know, we're supposed to have weapons. Great weapons."

Link nodded.

"Well, do you have any idea where these weapons are?" asked Red. Link shook his head.

"I do," Vaati spoke up. "Each weapon is in a temple dedicated to each of you."

"We each have our own temple? Sweet!" Blue seemed excited.

"As a matter of fact, there is a whole tribe that reveres the hero Link. When the four great Links came along, a group of Hylians saw their greatness, and were so impressed that they formed a tribe dedicated totally to reverence of these heroes. Even today, that tribe flourishes. They built each Link a great temple, dedicated just to them. When the four Links finally left Hyrule, the tribe enshrined their sacred weapons within these temples."

"You're really smart," Red commented admiringly.

"I trained under the greatest sorcerer of the Minish, my master, Ezlo," Vaati replied humbly. "Besides, having no wicked part of me left (excepting when called 'cute), I have no inclination to withhold information."

"Great, great," Blue interrupted. He seemed pumped about their own temples, but now looked a little frustrated. "Now which temple do we visit first? And how do we get there quickly?"

"Your first destination would be…" Vaati seemed to concentrate for a moment before his eyes flashed. "Ah, yes. I remember now. As Link clothed in green is your leader, you ought to visit his temple first."

"No fair!" Blue shouted. Link held a hand up to silence him, however. And Blue listened.

"Your first destination is known simply as 'the temple of spinning air,'" Vaati finished before Blue could interject.

"Spinning air, huh?" Link asked. "Now how do we get there?"

"I'll answer that one," came a voice behind them.

Luda, leading the Ordonian children, was standing there. Behind them was a hot air balloon.

"Feel free to help yourselves to our toy," Talo smiled graciously.

"You mean the reason that I haven't been getting the money my power suit business makes for myself, instead forcing me to spend it on a little project," Malo said quietly. Beth rolled her eyes and extended a small set of steps.

"Welcome aboard," she smiled as well.

"Promise me you'll have fun?" Colin, over by Renado, asked.

Link nodded and waved farewell to him as he entered the balloon. Red patted Beth on the head, and smiled excitedly as he stepped aboard. Blue, meanwhile, cuffed Talo, apparently attempting to be gentle. However, Talo was knocked flat. He laughed, however, and got up.

Blue untied the stakes, and their first flight began.

Everyone was smiling as the balloon rose, watching it fly off into the sky. The Links waved as hard as they could to their friends on the ground. However, one wasn't smiling.

Zelda was just standing there, a tear on her cheek. It was obvious that she'd wanted to say goodbye, though she hadn't. Parting with Link was obviously a strain. And no one could read her thoughts.

She was thinking of what the Glowing Red Eyes had told her. If darkness was indeed enveloping Hyrule, and if she was really going to bear the brunt, and if Link was really the hero…

Would she ever see him again?

Link, for his part, noticed her tear. His smile faded and his arm dropped. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he could see how sad she was.

"Come home, Link. Please? I don't know what I'd do if you didn't," she whispered, though he couldn't hear her.

Red was laughing and pointing to many different landmarks.

They'd been flying for awhile now, and Link had forgotten his earlier sadness. The joy of the wind whistling against their cheeks was a truly invigorating experience. Occasionally, Red would take out a his baton (called the wind waker, Link later found out) and jokingly conduct the wind. It actually responded once in a while. Link sometimes wondered if Red was truly him. Red seemed younger than the other two, for some reason. He felt as though Red were a younger sibling.

"He's actually the personification of our playful, innocent, and loyal side," Link turned to face Blue, who'd spoken.

"Where did that rare flash of reason come from?" Link asked.

"No clue, but I feel as if… something's wrong," Blue replied.

"Don't focus on that too much," Link replied. He didn't notice that Red seemed to be positioning them for landing. "If Red's the playful side, what are you?"

"I'm the short-fused, angry side," Blue explained. "The side that takes control of you whenever you face Mido."

"But when you're not angry, you seem to be pretty smart," Link smiled.

All of a sudden, a light seemed to turn off in Blue's eyes and he blinked.

"Something was just possessing me—wait, where are we?" Blue sounded more like himself now.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Link asked, not frightened, but intrigued.

"Malon, and declaring she was pretty," Blue replied brattishly.

"So, perhaps, we can take on the personality of another of us," Link mused. "But who was doing that to Blue? Shadow Link? No, Shadow Link's angry a lot too. Who was that?"

Red's playful smack across his cheek with his wind waker brought him back to reality.  
"Wake up, lazy," he laughed. "We've landed!"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07: The temple of spinning air**

**Author's note: **_I know that this temple scene will seem as though it were straight out of the game, but that's what I wanted. It'll seem a little crude, and I'm sorry._

The minute Link entered, he was surprised by the statue.

It was a life-size one of him, holding out his left hand. The triforce on it seemed to glow slightly. Link looked at his own hand. Same thing.

"Wow, will it be this way in all of our temples?" Blue asked.

"Stop obsessing over your darn temple, Blue!" Link was really frustrated now. He was too busy admiring all of the trappings. It _was _pretty cool to have your own temple.

Red rushed over to a small alcove, where a chest was. He opened it to find a small key, which he handed to Link. Blue, meanwhile, just looked around. He discovered a door behind one of the fake windows. Green held his hand up to the false window, revealing the door, which he fitted the key into.

The next room had more statues, and several labyrinthine corridors leading off from it.

"The main room," breathed Link. The three Links separated, each going down their own respective corridor, their adventure suddenly changing. Link discovered the dungeon map almost immediately, then found a Deku stick, which he used to light several torches from an already-lit one. The torches then summoned a small chest, which contained three hundred rupees. Link wasn't overly fond of rupees, but it was a welcome gift. Meanwhile, he acquainted himself through use of his sword with several opponents, including ghomas, keese (which were really annoying),

Blue discovered the compass, and smashed his way through several enemies. His corridor held the most secrets, and in the end, he even was in possession of a formerly empty bottle that now held a fairy. He also found a block puzzle, but without Link, he couldn't solve them. He and Link then proceeded to push the blocks into dizzying patterns. Finally, the door ahead of them opened, which they realized was the miniboss door. Inside, a single Zora warrior was standing guard, which they defeated easily.

But it was Red who made the most dizzying discovery of all. He somehow bypassed the miniboss door, and while the other two were attempting to work out puzzles, he found himself in the room right outside of the boss chamber. On one side was the door to the chamber, which, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open. On the other side, there was a small carving, showing Link holding up the four sword surrounded by three others. Of course Red could recognize himself and Blue. Even Link was easy to notice. However, he realized that the fourth figure in the back wasn't one he recognized. First of all, his eyes were slightly different from the others. Second of all, he was wearing purple. Who exactly was he?

"Red, where were you?" Link's voice brought him out of his musings. "We haven't seen you for the entire dungeon!"

"Did you find a secret passageway or something?" Blue asked.

"Well, duh! Now let's get that boss!" Red replied happily. He tried the door yet again, this time being even less successful. Blue tried as well, and came up with nothing. Then, Link undid the lock neatly and opened the door as if nothing were wrong.

"What's up with that?" Blue asked indignantly.

"I think this boss fight is meant for him," Red explained. "It'll be the same in every temple."

Link noticed neither of them as he entered the boss chamber. It seemed peaceful for about five minutes. All of a sudden, a rumbling was heard. The platform suddenly rose far above the entryway, and Link found himself face to face with a giant ocean octorock. Cylock, stirrer of winds.

_Temple of spinning air, huh, _Link thought. _Just why do they have to have a boss?_

The battle was fairly hard at first. Cylock sent cyclones at him, and he just narrowly avoided them. Link realized that the bomb flowers surrounding them had to be the answer and tossed them into one of the cyclones. Cylock ate it by accident, then crashed to the ground, dizzy.

Link slashed at him as quickly as he could, thankful that his opponent in the Dojo had been Mido. Cylock was an easy opponent in comparison, and Link actually began to enjoy it after a few rounds. Just then, Cylock broke into a thousand pieces. They began to circle around and around, until, all of a sudden, they were shoved together again. Link drew his sword, expecting a battle. However, when the pieces were finally shoved together, he realized they'd formed a boomerang.

He picked it up, and, deciding to have some fun, aimed at a crystal switch that had appeared right below them. However, the boomerang suddenly began shaking in his hands when he'd locked on, and when he fired, a cyclone followed the spinning object.

"The legendary wind boomerang," Link thought to himself as the crystal switch took effect and he was magically returned to the entrance of the temple. Standing right next to him were Red and Blue.

"The wind boomerang!" Red cried, excited.

"I read a carving," Blue interrupted. "Our next destination is 'the temple of icy fire.'"

"Onward, then," Link announced. The four mounted their hot air balloon and soared high up into the sky. As soon as they were high up enough, they could see a volcano that seemed to be spilling both snow and lava.

"How much are you willing to bet that our next stop is right there?" Blue muttered.

"Ten rupees," Link replied.

"You're on."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08: the temple of icy fire**

After about half an hour more in the air, Link and the others began descent.

Rather, Red controlled the descent using his Wind Waker and the other two bickered.

"You owe me ten rupees!"

"You owe me ten rupees!"

Who cared who spoke? They were arguing over the same thing: the bet.

"You guys, could you keep it down?" asked Red. "I'm trying to land in the volcano!"

"WHAT?" the other two cried in shocked unison.

"Ten rupees he kills us," smirked Blue.

"Well, if he _does_ kill us, I won't be able to give you the rupees, will I?" Link asked.

"Why not?"

"We'll be dead, Dinhead!" Link snarled back.

"Be quiet or we _will _be dead!" Red told them both. As they entered the neck of the volcano, a blast of lava missed them by an inch.

"What are you DOING?" shouted Link.

"Something's telling me that the temple of icy fire would naturally be in this volcano," Red smiled cheerily as he continued their descent.

Fifteen minutes and several close calls later…

"You owe me ten rupees!" shouted Link. Blue growled at him and handed him a yellow rupee.

"Thanks."

Other than the fact that their nerves were in shreds, they were fine as they turned to face the temple, Red leading the way. He seemed pleased that they'd reached his temple, but neither Link knew what he was really thinking of.

That boy in purple was a mystery. And Red adored mysteries almost as much as he loved being nice to people.

As soon as they entered the fire temple, Red ignored the others and started off on the only available path. He paused to admire the statue of him holding the Wind Waker aloft, but then continued on through the dungeon.

The others were slightly slower, but continued behind him. As a matter of fact, because they were slower, they were the ones who picked up all the prizes. Red killed enemy after enemy ahead of them, but continued through the temple, which seemed to be in the shape of a spiral staircase. The other two thought they had it easy… until a Darknut faced them.

Blue began to hack at the armor as if there were no tomorrow, but Link practically laughed as he took out his new weapon. Readying the gale boomerang, he locked it onto the Darknut's helmet. The cyclone surrounding the boomerang knocked Blue out of range as the boomerang hit the helmet, knocking it off and bringing it back to Link.

"Ten rupees says you can't do that again!" Blue declared.

"What's with your gambling addiction lately?" Link asked.

"I want my rupees back."

However, unfortunately for Blue, Link was able to pull all the armor off, piece by piece. However, despite his frustration at losing another ten rupees, Blue was more than happy to tear into the Darknut and cause him to explode. As gratitude, Link let him claim the dungeon map.

"But you still owe me those rupees," he added. Blue growled and handed him another yellow rupee.

Red, meanwhile, breezed past the miniboss chamber once again, this time through a network of tunnels that he was sure was designed for him. Blue and Link were left to face it, this time a particularly nasty ghoma.

"I hate spiders," muttered Blue as soon as they were done. They'd of course tried the tunnel network, but hadn't been able to fit. Thankfully, right beyond the miniboss chamber was the boss chamber itself.

"Great, what is this? That game _Take 'em all on?_" Blue asked incredulously. However, they were both stopped short when they noticed Red looking at the mosaics.

"Red?" Link asked. The two raced up to him, but he was already moving.

"I think I'm the one meant to break open this boss door," announced Red. Neither noticed that he had purposely distracted him from the fact that he'd been looking at the mosaics. He wasn't sure who that boy in purple was, but he knew that something didn't quite fit with Shadow Link.

"Are you kidding?" asked Link, bringing him back to earth about the very heavy door.

"Ten rupees says he can't," Blue smirked. Imagine his shock when Red looked at the door for a moment, then suddenly lifted the Wind Waker, seemed to conduct a little piece, and opened the door with the power of wind.

"Ugh. I hate Red," Blue muttered, handing Link yet another yellow rupee.

In the boss chamber, Red surveyed the two torches with interest for a moment before each shot out a stream, one of fire, one of ice. The two streams of energy met in the exact middle point of the room, then merged to form a boss that Red had of course heard of. Fraaz, master of icy fire.

"But Link had a boomerang then," he mumbled as Fraaz shot a jet of fire at him. However, seeing his Wind Waker, he got an idea. Aiming it at one of the torches, he directed the winds to send a jet of ice at the now fire-charged Fraaz. It hit him with extreme accuracy, and Red went in for the kill.

Or not. After a few whacks with his sword, Fraaz pushed him away. But Red got the general idea now. Even when Fraaz split into his fiery and icy halves, Red knew exactly what to do. And even when Fraaz destroyed the torches as a last resort, Red could easily use the wind to direct the fire or ice towards the maniac.

Eventually, just as it had happened with Link, Fraaz collapsed and split into seemingly a thousand pieces before reforming into what looked like a rod. Red picked it up and aimed it at one of the jars. By accident, he'd set it on fire before he realized.

"Cool! Another range weapon!" Red was so excited that he didn't notice that when he aimed his rod to shoot both streams of fire and ice and fireballs and iceballs, a stray fireball caught Blue on the seat of his pants.

"Argh!" he screamed. "You set my butt on fire!"

"Sorry!" Red apologized, seemingly innocent. He shot an iceball onto his flaming pants instead and just managed to rescue them before they burned away.

"Well, before our clone here… ahem, interrupted," Link was trying not to laugh. "Blue and I read a carving that told about 'the temple of swimming earth.'"

"Let's go! It's probably mine!" Blue shouted gleefully as Red quietly conducted the wind to bring them the balloon.

"Would you like to bet on it?" Link asked sweetly.

"No. I've been wrong too often in these past few hours," Blue replied.

As the heroes took flight once more, this time with Blue as lookout, Red thought back to that odd boy in purple.

Who was he, really?

And whoever he was, did he have a connection with Shadow Link. _No, _Red thought. _His eyes have wisdom in them. He'd never ally with Shadow Link willingly._

Okay, before I write another chapter, I need a review! Also, I want the few readers I've got to tell me. What do they think the connection between the boy in purple and Shadow Link is?


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09: the temple of swimming earth**

**Author's note: **_this chapter will be even shorter than the normal ones devoted to temples. However, you'll finally get to know what Shadow Link has been up to!_

Despite his distracted thoughts, Red was still able to maneuver the hot air balloon towards what he knew to be their next generation, a hill near Lake Hylia. The clear blue lake sparkled invitingly at the heroes, but they had a temple to finish off, one that, knowing Blue, would be extremely difficult. He was pure power, though admittedly seemed less intelligent than the others sometimes. If Link could venture a guess as to what the temple would be like, he guessed that this one would include very few puzzles, but difficult monsters in exchange.

And was he right! As usual, Red disappeared the minute they entered the temple, but not before grabbing the dungeon map. Link examined to discover the rooms had an eerily simple design, as though they were designed for particularly hard fights.

"YESS! Welcome to my temple!" Blue cried triumphantly. He admired the statue of himself holding the Ocarina of time while Link snickered to himself. The expression on the statue's face didn't fit with the Ocarina at all. Blue seemed to like it, though. For the first time in all of their temples, Link wondered where Red was. he always seemed to disappear early on in the temple. However, then he realized that there was a ghoma practically on top of him.

"AAAAHHHH!" both heroic boys screamed and began waving their swords at it in a very terrified manner. Thankfully, the monster was confused by both swords and was a cinch to kill.

"When a chest appears, I bet ten rupees that it's a small key!" he declared. "That's usually how dungeons start!"

Blue flipped open the chest that appeared when they defeated it to discover nothing more than a yellow rupee.

"Oh, the irony!" he fumed and handed it to Link, who smirked.

As a matter of fact, Blue lost a lot of money in the temple. None of the chests (except the boss key and the compass ones) contained anything other than yellow rupees. Blue, however, couldn't keep any. He had to give them all to Link through bets. Otherwise, he was in his element. The enemies in this temple were particularly thrilling to fight, particularly the stalfos, lizalfos, and the like. Blue smashed through them all easily, then smirked his characteristic smirk when done.

"Boy is that fun!" he called to Link. A chest then appeared, similar to the one that they either found or appeared after defeating the enemies in a room.

"Bet you ten rupees that it's that small key that no dungeon in Hyrule is complete without!" Blue shouted, later giving a cry of anger when, once again, he was met with a yellow rupee.

"Haha," Link smiled. "It appears this one isn't a complete temple or something, then."

"DON'T SLAM MY TEMPLE!" Blue screamed.

"Have you seen a psychiatrist about your temper yet?" Link asked.  
"I've existed as a separate being for less than a day!"

"Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten," Link replied sarcastically as the two faced the miniboss, death sword. However, this time it was harder, because no matter how many songs Blue played, they couldn't see death sword. Blue just charged blindly at him for awhile until Link had an idea. He grabbed his boomerang, aimed it at a nearby plant, and let it return its powdery pollen to him. Thankfully, his idea worked and the pollen partially stuck to death sword, making it easier to see him.

The rest of the dungeon was either painfully easy or grueling, depending on which Link was thinking about it. Monster after monster came at them, but the heroes bested them all. After they defeated a few darknuts in back-to-back form, Link realized something.

"I can't believe this, but I think we're becoming a better team," he told Blue.

"Duh," he replied.

Red, meanwhile, pulling his usual trick, bypassed most of the dungeon and made it to the entrance to the boss chamber. Unlike most of the tunnel networks he'd used thus far, this one was full of cobwebs, forcing him to use his flame wand (which was what he called it) on them. When he got to the entrance of the boss chamber, he discovered the usual carvings, but this time, he managed to get a good look at the boy in purple. This time, there was also the name of each of their temples underneath them. Red saw that the name of the purple one's temple was 'the temple of flying light.'

Just then, he was met with the other two.

"Where have you been?" Link asked.

"I found the name of our next destination," Red exclaimed happily.

"Later. How do we get this door open?" Blue asked. Link came over and kicked it, but there was no response. Blue tried the handle and walked through easily, much to Link's consternation.

"Remember my temple?" Red asked reassuringly. Link smiled, remembering. Red sure knew how to make him feel better.

Blue, meanwhile, found himself face-to-face with a bright green monster. It had a huge yellow eye and was surrounded by purple goo, not the handsomest thing, but certainly one with a lot of pure power, particularly when it slapped the ground. He realized that this must be Phytops, barbed menace.

Blue could see that its tentacles were covered in painful barbs. However, he was as daring as he was powerful, and on a sudden whim, ripped out one of the barbs and threw it at the eye. His aim was, fortunately, very accurate.

By the end of the battle, Blue even found that he'd enjoyed it.

The boss then burst into a thousand pieces, before, suddenly, slamming back together to create the largest hammer Blue had ever seen.

"Amazing!" he cried happily. The other two both patted him on the back before Red conducted the wind once more.

"What? We have another temple?" Link asked.

"The temple of flying light, high in the clouds," Red replied. "I just want to see something."

"It had better be worth it," growled Blue, swinging his large hammer threateningly.

Little did they know that it wouldn't only be 'worth it', it would also change the course of their adventure.

Shadow Link smirked.

How naïve Red was! He talked to himself, and Shadow Link had heard every word of his musings about the temple of flying light. Realizing that that was his destination as well, Shadow Link prepared to teleport.

He wasn't scared of a confrontation with the Links. Rather, he'd welcome it.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: mayhem at the temple**

**Author's note: **_this chapter is going to be short, but this is the most important chapter I have written yet. It will also be the last I put up on until I get a review. Please! Just tell me what you think! Please!_

Red could hardly wait to see above the clouds.

Actually, it was easier to control the wind up here. It could blow unhindered for miles at a time. Red could almost hear it laughing as it breezed past them.

Blue and Link were a little frightened, however. Something was bothering both of them, and neither knew why. Link wondered what Red wanted to check out. After all, they all had beaten their temples.

As soon as Red made a gentle landing on a cloud bank next to the large temple, the other two gasped at its majesty. It was a very simple, yet very attractive design. It had obviously been lovingly thought out by its creators. However, as beautiful as the outside was, the inside blew them away.

The main room had a very high ceiling, and, looking very similar to the temple of time, it had a domed ceiling with the very top missing, allowing the light to shine through to a single figure on the mounted dais.

This figure was a statue, obviously of a Link. He had longer hair (slightly) than the rest of them, and was lean, yet muscular. One could tell he was built to run. He seemed to be holding a sword in his left hand. In his right, he was shooting out a ray of light from his palm.

"Vio, bearer of veil power," Red read the plaque quietly. So _he _was that boy in purple. But where was he? Could he be farther along in this temple?

"Guys, come look at this," Link cried suddenly. The other two raced up to him, looking at his panicky face.

"What's wrong?" Red asked.

"This puzzle's been solved!" Link replied. "And this chest has been opened! Whoever was here was sure in a hurry!"

"You mean—" Blue was silent for a moment before Red spoke.

"Someone beat us here? Vio? For some reason, I doubt that."

"Yes. Why do I feel so uneasy?" Blue asked.

Link looked at his clones in shock for a moment before breaking into a run into the next room. This time, Red didn't disappear. Rather, he pointed out that in every room, what was left of monsters provided a creepy trail, as well as solved puzzles and opened chests. However, Red also noticed that the mosaics in this temple were unusually beautiful. It was as though Vio would appreciate them more than the other Links.

"I think we'd like Vio," he said to the others in a hushed voice. "See all these puzzles? And these mosaics? I think he's a very smart one."

"Why do you think we'd like him?" Blue asked, also quietly.

"I don't know. I just get that vibe from how the temple is designed," Red replied.

The other two were too unsettled to admire the temple or think of if they'd like Vio. Whoever had been through here hadn't left a single monster alive, a single puzzle unsolved, a single chest unopened. In other words, he'd been very thorough.

"If this person's got the dungeon map, then he'll know we're coming," Link warned. "We'll have to be really careful.

When they finally got to the entrance to the boss chamber, they found to their shock that the door was blasted open. When they entered the boss chamber itself, they noticed in shock that it looked as though it had been pillaged very well. It also looked deserted.

Until out of nowhere, an arrow nearly hit Link.

Red screamed and pulled him aside just in time.

"Well, well, well. I have company," Shadow Link descended out of the shadows, though still cloaked in them. The other three Links jumped.

"Why aren't you showing us your face?" Link asked angrily.

"Hmm. That is a question," Shadow Link laughed. "Well, we are now on even ground. Might as well, show you your opponent."

He clapped his hands together, and all the shadows around him began swirling around him, faster and faster, until all of a sudden, the disappeared. The figure they revealed shocked the three, and that was with his head down.

He was tall, as tall as Blue, but far slimmer. Red guessed that the little weight he had was muscle. He was wearing all black. Even his cap was black. Link noticed that he was holding the hero's bow. But all of their thoughts were interrupted when he pulled his head up to face them.

He was almost identical to the other three, but had a slightly more attractive quality. His hair was also longer than even Red's. But it was his eyes that shocked all of them. They were bright purple, and glinted with slight madness.

At least, that was what the other two saw. Red could sense an almost pained feeling in his eyes.

"Vio?" the three cried in shock.

"Yes, and no," the figure replied, soaring halfway up the wall. "I'm known as Shadow Link. See if that means anything to you!"

"No…" Red whispered. He couldn't believe that a noble clone of Link would truly switch to the dark side. However, all thoughts ceased when Shadow Link notched an arrow aimed at him, seeming to charge it with dark energy for a moment, before letting it fly.

Blue tackled him, and all three Links then stood up to face Shadow Link.

"It appears you're outmatched," Blue shouted.

"Then I'm off! To Hyrule castle!" Shadow Link shouted. The other three gasped when all of a sudden, he disappeared.

The air was more subdued around the Links as Red summoned their balloon.

"So we can't even trust ourself any more…" Blue whispered.

"I suppose not," Link replied.

"Take heart, heroes," Red smiled at the two. "We'll find a way to get Vio back! Our Vio, not this horrible version of him."

"How do we know that this isn't Vio's normal state?" Blue asked.

"Zelda will," Link replied. "She knows a lot about this sort of thing."

Little did Link know that he'd never get to ask her.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: curse**

**Author's note: **_Thank you __so__ much, UltraViolet, for your review, and congrats on being the first reviewer! Now that I know to keep doing exactly what I've been doing, this story will be speeding right along!_

Zelda was sitting peacefully in the library, reading, a troubled expression on her face.

Time passed differently in different sections of Hyrule, she knew. She also knew that in temples, what seemed like hours but she also knew that Link had been gone for several days now. Where was he?

She bent over her book once more, determined to stop thinking about him. That just made her sad.

Besides, her book was fascinating. It told of the history of the heroes who'd carried the name 'Link' and the sort of issued they'd faced in the past. For some reason, it comforted her. Many times before, Hyrule had been at the brink of destruction when Link had come, manifesting himself as that chosen one. Even though Midna and Vaati seemed very worried right now, she knew that many times before, someone had claimed 'Hyrule was doomed.' And now, Hyrule still stood. It had gone through thousands of phases, from a kingdom ruled by the goddesses themselves to a land of ocean, from an anarchy to a gentle monarchy. However, Hyrule still stood.

She became so engrossed in her book that she never noticed a peculiar crackling noise until she looked up. There were flames at the corner of the room.

She stood up and gasped. Someone had set fire to Hyrule castle! Despite the fact that the castle was made out of stone, a fire could still devastate it, weakening the mortar and destroying the foundation. She had to get out, and fast.

However, something was stopping her. This was the library, after all. There were only three libraries in Lanayru province, and this was one of two imperial libraries. The other one was in the basement, hopefully safe from the fire, but now, she realized that one of the curtains was burning. This library wasn't going to be safe. Many of Hyrule's treasures would be lost. It hurt her heart to think of it. She grabbed the book she was reading, and left using the only door.

She was met with an inferno. Everything flammable was aflame. Even the mortar was burning. Hyrule castle had never burned like this. Oh, once it had exploded, but never had it burned. Zelda hoped that no one else was inside. Realizing that she had to get out before the smoke began affecting her, she leapt and sidestepped flames in a twisted sort of hopscotch. By the time she left that flaming room, her head already felt cloudy and she realized that she'd have to duck lower to avoid some of the smoke. Idly, she wondered if she could get herself partway out using Farore's wind as she crept along the ground, but then realized that if she got it wrong, she could be killed. Besides, it took a lot of her energy.

So for room after room, Zelda crawled through the castle. Each room had a particular memory for her, each place was part of her home. And now it was all burning. Zelda's tears, each putting out the fire just slightly, were what marked her trail.

As soon as she finally emerged into the daylight, she collapsed. The smoke and the fire had taken a lot out of her, and now she was a mess. However, all was forgotten at the sound of laughter. Someone was happy that her castle was burning. She pulled herself up again to see a tall figure who looked similar to Link, but Zelda instantly knew from the maddened expression on his face that he wasn't. Besides, his eyes were purple. Then she noticed something that shocked her.

"Vio!" she gasped.

"Shadow Link," he corrected her, smiling. "But yes, Vio as well, sort of."  
"Why?" she asked sadly. She'd just been reading about Vio, and was shocked he was behaving this way. "Vio was supposed to be the intelligent one. Vio was supposed to be the caring one. Vio was supposed to be the one who APPRECIATED THINGS!" she was becoming hysterical. This maniac had destroyed her home.

However, she was surprised to see that his eyes suddenly changed color. For a moment, they glinted the blue that she'd associated for many years with her beloved fried. She was even more surprised when a tear dropped out of one of the eyes. It hit a blade of grass, which suddenly seemed to divide into two slightly.

"Yes, I, I am supposed to be the appreciative one," he said in a quiet voice, a tear dropping from his eye once more. Suddenly his eyes glowed red, and he screamed, "WHY? WHY MUST I BE THIS ONE? WHY MUST I _DO_ THIS?"

His eyes glowed purple, and suddenly, as though answering his own question, he replied, "Because above all, I'm Shadow Link. And I'm evil." He turned to Zelda.

"Why did you make me think like that?" he asked her. "No matter. You'll suffer."

With that, he drew his bow. Zelda gasped and tried to run, but made the mistake of turning around to see where he'd fire his arrow. The arrow looked a little odd, and it's tip was red as though it had been coated in blood. The rest of it was black. A shadow arrow. And the blood—Shadow Link's blood! Infused with the veil power that Vio was said to control! Zelda knew she had to get away.

Barely had she even moved when all of a sudden, the arrow hit her. Right next to her heart.

As she collapsed, Vio could see that for a moment, she was surrounded in light. Then, almost as soon as it began, it was gone.

"The veil power and the curse will both take effect, immediately," he smirked. Then, seeing the book she was holding, he picked it up. An expression of curiosity crossed his face for a moment before he picked it up and put it in his satchel.

Perhaps a book could appease his Vio side for a while.

When Zelda woke up, she immediately knew something was wrong when she stood up.

The dress had become way too large for her. But how? It hadn't seemed to grow. And why would it?

Then she looked at her hands. They were smaller than normal.

The dress wasn't growing! She was shrinking!

She screamed in horror. A small pool of water nearby made it plain to her that she looked younger than usual. What was worse was that the pool reflected a hot air balloon, far up in the sky. Link was returning. There was no way he could catch her like this! If she really was aging backwards, he could never see her again! She was just too mortified.

Quietly, she raced off into the now night, tears marking her path once again.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Link's oath**

**Author's note: **_Well, I'm sort of suffering from writer's block. Bear with me, please! This chapter is short, but it is one of the most important chapters that I'll be writing. Please review. I am as of instating my 5 rule, meaning that after I get five reviews, I'll publish the next chapter. That is, unless my writer's block goes away._

As soon as the balloon landed, Blue noticed that Zelda's belt was lying on the ground.

Link was terrified. What if something happened to her? He'd never forgive himself. He and Blue noticed that there were a few footsteps leading into the forest, so they took off. Red, meanwhile, felt himself slip into a sort of daze. His mind wandered and he followed them, but far more slowly. He closed his eyes and let instinct guide his feet, and all of a sudden, he saw something. In his mind's eye, he could see a figure far off. The figure was dressed from head to toe, and when Red got a better look at it, could tell that the figure was a girl with blond hair that just barely showed in the small opening for her face.

"Greetings," she said quietly.

"Hi," he replied.

"Red, I'm here to warn you. Hyrule has barely an hour left before the prophecy comes true."

"Huh?" her words were confusing Red.

"See, there is a prophecy that claims that at the end of every age, Hyrule goes through a period of darkness. Five thousand years, to be exact," explained the girl.  
"What happens during those five thousand years?" Red asked.

"That cannot be known, for time itself seems to freeze for those creatures of the light," she told him. "However, we know that for those five thousand years, the creatures of darkness are free to roam, led by their own kings."

The fear that this last phrase struck in his heart was enough to rouse him from his partial sleep.

"Less than an hour, huh?" he thought. "We'll have to warn the princess!" just then, he heard some movement in the tree right above him.  
"Link! Blue!" he shouted. They came over. Seeing that there was something moving in the trees, Red conducted a short piece on the Wind Waker, causing the leaves to rustle and a small figure to fall out of the trees and gasp.

Imagine Link's surprise when he came face-to-face with a six-year-old Zelda.

"ZELDA?" he gasped.

"Oh, Nayru," she swore quietly. "I hoped you wouldn't have to see what happened to me!" With that, she burst into tears.

"Shh, calm down," Link picked her up and embraced her. "It's not as if I'm unhappy with you," he said soothingly. Suddenly, something odd began happening. He felt as though he could see within her memories. He could hear her scream as Shadow Link hit her with an arrow. He could tell it was the arrow of his fallen clone, Vio. Well, he wasn't sure how Vio and Shadow Link were related, but knew he was upset. At Vio. He was the rational one. And it was his arrow.

"So he's the one to blame for this," he thought angrily. Zelda was still sobbing, but to a weaker degree. He signaled to Blue, who began playing Zelda's lullaby.

"Link? There's so much that I wanted to—" she whispered before he cut her off.

"No. Not now. We must get to the Tower of Spirits. I don't know why, but I know we must."

She nodded off at that moment. Link continued holding her as he turned to the other two.

"We must go now." They nodded. Just then, they saw that the sky began to darken, as though a storm were coming. However, this one was far more sinister than a normal storm. And the sky itself seemed to darken, not just the clouds.

"The period of darkness," breathed Red. He explained his vision.

"And I know, somehow, this is related to Zelda," Link finished.

"What happened?" Blue asked.

"Vio hit her with an arrow. It probably had a curse on it, from the way she's reacted," Link replied.

The three began to walk in the direction of the great tower, Link still cradling Zelda as if she were the most precious thing in the world. As a matter of fact, her dress was so large on her that he pulled it around her like a blanket. Red could almost feel Link's emotions, and was a little frightened. They could hear thunder rumbling all around them, and Red picked that moment to ask.

"Link, I can tell you're upset. What are you going to do?"

"First of all, we'll have to try to find a cure for Zelda before she disappears," he began. Red could hear his voice crackling.

"And as for Vio?" he asked in a dangerous voice. "It's his arrow, and he's going to pay for it."

"How?" Red asked.

"With his life," Link replied in a voice that the others had never heard him use before.

Just then, lightning flashed, illuminating his face. It showed nothing but pure fury, though masked slightly.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Journey to the tower**

Red was surprised and terrified of Link's new madness. Being more worried about reaching the tower, he said nothing.

The storm really was kicking up now. There was no rain, just wind, wind strong enough to blow them off their feet. However, they pressed on through the wind. One of Link's arms supported the ever-shrinking Zelda, while the other batted branches away. If even a twig touched her, Link would be upset with himself. He just didn't want her to be in any pain other than what she was obviously in.

He felt bad already, though. It was his fault that she was like this. If he hadn't left, he might've been able to protect her or something. Oh, how he wished none of this had ever happened to him, or to her, for that matter. He resolved to make Shadow Link pay. And the best way he could think was to kill that truant clone of his, Vio. He was obviously working for the dark side as Shadow Link.

Meanwhile, Blue and Red were both nervous, about their clone, but were both too wise to talk to him. Instead, they spoke to each other.

"Haven't you noticed the wind is picking up?" Blue asked quietly. "The closer we get to the Tower of Spirits?"  
"Yeah," Red replied. "If it gets really bad I'll use my wind waker."

"Good idea, wind boy," Blue muttered. "Now what about our green friend?"

"Link?" Red asked. "The wind's getting stronger as we get closer to the tower, as if something doesn't want us there!"  
"You're the one who can control the wind. You're not going to betray me as well?" Link asked.

"Shut up, Link!" Blue shouted. "There was no need to take it out on Red like that!"

"I'm in a bad mood, okay?" Link replied in an acidic tone.

"Thanks for trying," Red whispered to Blue. "I appreciate it."

"Anything for a friend," Blue replied. "Wait, why are we friends anyway? You're way too happy and I'm really grouchy."

"Let's not fine-tune it. Lets just go with it," Red grinned.

As soon as they reached the clearing with the Tower of Spirits, Red and Blue both immediately noticed that getting to the tower would be extremely difficult. After all, a tornado was surging around it.

Link swore. He had to get Zelda there before she aged backwards to nothing or something awful like that. Thankfully, just then, he remembered his biting comment to Red earlier. Maybe Red could fix it up.

"Red, use the wind waker!" Link ordered. Red pulled it out and began conducting. However, unlike usual, it barely responded. As a matter of fact, Red conducted harder and longer in that short stretch of time than he ever had. Still, the wind barely died down.

"Of course!" Blue snapped his fingers. "It's not the wind waker but my Ocarina that we must use!"

"Why?" Link asked.

"I can teleport us inside," Blue replied and began to play the "Theme of the Tower."

Instantly, the small group was teleported inside. They'd made it.

"Welcome, heroes," it was Anjean. "Thank goodness you've just arrived. It is spreading through Hyrule as we speak."

"What?" chorused three voices. However, they didn't need her reply.

Now, they'd face the biggest challenge of their lives: the beginning of the freeze.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Freeze **

Link and the others all jumped in surprise when, behind Anjean, a figure entered from the tower stair. He was extremely tall, more that twice as tall as Blue, and much wider.

"Anjean!" Link shouted. "There's a figure behind you!" He noticed in fright that the figure had a huge gauntlet on one arm. An opponent to be feared

"Not to worry," she said with a smile. "Despite his menacing appearance, he is on our side."

"Greetings, heroes," he said to the now relieved heroes. "I am Byrne."

"One of Malladus' servants from the past?" came Zelda's voice quietly. She was obviously stirring. Link looked nervously at her to see that she was now around the physical age of three.

"Yes," Anjean replied. "However, if you remember correctly, Byrne switched sides back to the good sides where he remains to this day. There is nothing to fear from Byrne."

"Go to sleep, Zelda," Link soothed. "We made it to the Tower. You'll be okay, now."

"So that's why you're here," Anjean seemed to understand now. "You're here to try to help the princess."  
"Yes," Link replied. "After all, that has been my duty in all my lifetimes. Also, Anjean, I have something to talk to you about that's… private."

"Midna!" called Anjean. "Vaati!"

Midna and Vaati entered from the long tower stairway. Midna gasped in shock when she saw how battered the Links appeared.

"Take Red, Blue, and the princess with you. Byrne, you go, too."

Vaati gently took Zelda from Link and walked out first, while Red and Blue followed behind the floating Midna.

"Now, Link, what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked.

"It's Zelda," he replied. "Can you reverse the curse on her?"

"Vaati will try to undo the curse on her," she said. "What happened?"  
"Vio happened," Link growled. Anjean could see the anger flaring in his eyes, now. "Vio hit her with an arrow!"

"Vio?" she gasped. "Don't you mean Shadow Link?"

"As far as he's told me, their the same person," he replied. "But anyway, he cursed the arrow to curse her to age backwards. I have no clue how long it will go, but I want it reversed. And don't worry about revenge. I'm going to take care of it. Next time I see our shadowed friend, I'm going to kill him!"

"You are acting with an anger uncharacteristic to Link," she spoke with severity. "Why? Does Zelda really mean this much to you?"

"Yes," he replied." You won't understand."

Suddenly, Vaati and the others sprinted back in, gasping for breath.

"Hyrule's freezing!" he shouted. "Thankfully, it's taking Zelda with it. She'll be frozen at age 0." Link noticed that Vaati was still holding the bundle, though now it was far smaller and wrapped more tightly.

"She's…" Link was shocked.

"Yeah," Vaati replied. "She's physically the age of a newborn. I'm sorry that it had to get to this, but if she'd frozen even a second later, there'd be nothing left."

"The last possible thing to rescue her," Red breathed in relief and sadness. He cared about her far less than Link did, but even so, he was worried about her.

"Can you restore her to her original age, Anjean?" Link asked, dreading the answer.

"Unfortunately, the most I can do is erase her memory to ease the pain," she said sadly.

"What?" shrieked Link. "What'll that do to help her?"

"I'll be storing the memories elsewhere, so when she's ready to reawaken as the princess, she'll have her old personality back."

"But what will that do to help her?" Link was still upset.

"It will make sure that the loss of the princess, as is inevitable at the beginning of the 5000 year freeze, will not be permanent," she replied.

"So, how will she be returned to her original age?" Vaati asked, trying to change the tone of the conversation a little.

"I'm afraid that she'll just have to grow up all over again, here in the tower," Anjean prepared for another outburst from Link. However, none came.

"And what will the rest of us do until then?" Link asked quietly.

"Not age until she returns to her original age. I shall put a spell on us when the time comes," she replied.

"Until the time comes?" Link asked. Just then, Midna gave a scream and froze in place. She seemed to be stone, Red observed.

"Midna!" they all cried in worry.

"The freeze has entered the tower," Anjean continued quietly. "All those without endowment of the evil powers of Ganondorf are now frozen, except inside this tower."

Just then, Byrne froze.

"Yeah," Link mumbled. "I guess he was good."

Vaati suddenly levitated little Zelda into Link's arms.

"'Tis fitting that she is kept safe by you until she reawakens," he said gently. Just then, he froze as well. Only the Links and Anjean were unfrozen now.

"Link, control your care for Zelda," cautioned Anjean. "Your overwhelming longing to protect her is clouding your decision-making."

"I don't know what you're talking about," growled Link. "Even if I did, I wouldn't care. I'm killing Vio/Shadow Link no matter what you say." To prove his point, he pulled the small Zelda into an even closer embrace. Just as he was doing so, he froze. Red gasped in worry and raced over to his clone, but there was nothing he could do.

"Blue," Anjean was talking to him now. "You're next for the freezing." She crossed to speak to him. "You have been blessed with incredible physical fortitude, and a large hammer. It's up to you protect Shadow Link. Or Vio, whoever you choose to think of him as."

"I'll try to keep Link in check," Blue responded and shifted his hammer threateningly. Just as he pulled it out, he froze as well.

"Red," Anjean finally turned to the red Link.

"I don't understand Link's longing to murder our clone," Red gasped. "He's supposed to be merciful."

"Ah, that's where it departs from the usual pattern," Anjean smiled slightly. "Though he doesn't know it yet, he's different from most Links past."

"Why?" Red asked.

"Link loves Zelda, though he is oblivious to that fact," she replied.

Silence as Red tried to absorb this fact.

"It's a sweet idea, sort of," Red said after a minute.

"Yes," came another voice. "However, it would cease to be if I were killed."

Red jumped around with a shout, ready to face Shadow Link. Who else could be speaking, after all? However, he was quite surprised by what he saw. Yes, it was Shadow Link physically, but his voice wasn't harsh and high, but rather, lower and calmer. He was walking on the ground, not hovering slightly. But most of all, Red could see that his eyes weren't glinting with madness. As a matter of fact, they were more grayish-purple now.

"Red, I don't have much time," he said urgently. "I, Vio, managed to take control for long enough to visit here for a moment.

"Vio," Red gasped. "Link's planning on killing you, or whatever you are."

"I know," Vio replied sadly. "I heard it all. He doesn't understand what I'm going through."

"What, exactly?" Red asked. "What are you going through?"

"Perhaps I should show you," Vio answered quietly. "Anjean?" he asked. She smiled and charged a ball of light in her hands. Suddenly, she let it loose, so that it was floating in front of Red and Vio. Red began to see shapes moving vaguely inside of it. He looked more closely, and even as he did so, he seemed to be swallowed into the ball of light.

Anjean, meanwhile, turned to see Vio's eyes were darkening.

"I'm sorry that you will have to be awake for these 5000 years of darkness," she said sadly. "That is all I can say. Shadow Link is coming back. Run!"

For all he was worth, Vio ran for the lives of Anjean and Red. He was in no danger. Rather, the danger would've come from him.

Red was shocked by what he saw in this vision. It was the four sword sanctuary. From the looks of it, Link had just pulled out the four sword.

Four figures were sprawled on the ground. Most obviously was Link himself. Another one, whom Red recognized with a shock as himself, was sleeping as well. Yet another whom Red recognized as Blue was stirring slightly. However, it was the last one, whom Red could tell was straight out of those paintings he'd seen, who was closest to reawakening.

Vio…

All of a sudden, the room went dark. Vio opened his eyes for an instant to suddenly see that there was some sort of evil energy entering the room. Red could see that it was a Twili from the symbols on its arms. Red knew instantly that this was Zant.

"COLE!" he shouted excitedly. "I, the king of the Twili, have discovered that Vio is waking up!"

Cole entered, looking bored.

"Honestly, Zant, which personality is it now?"

"The bossy one!" Zant shouted. All of a sudden, he shouted "Shut up, Helpful!"

"Who are you and why are you here?" came Vio's voice.

"We're here to kidnap you!" laughed Cole.

"Well, there's two of you, but neither of you are armed, so we're even," Vio reasoned.

"There are a lot more of us than you think!" came Zant's voice.

"You mean your multi-personalities?" asked Cole in the same bored voice.

"Yes!" Zant shouted. "No!" he shouted a second later. After that, he appeared to have a fight with himself.

"Anyways, little hero, there are more of us than you think!" Cole laughed. "Bellum, now!"

All of a sudden, Vio felt a tentacle grab him around his midsection and whirled around to see Bellum, a monstrous octopus-like creature with a huge, yellow body and purple tentacles.

Vio gasped in horror when Bellum pulled another tentacle forward. Only this one was full already. With…

"Dark Link," Vio gasped. "You're alive?"

Dark Link turned around to face him as best as he could with Bellum's tentacle wrapped around him.

"How is it that you remember me?"  
Vio felt slight confusion, then it hit him.

"I'm good with knowledge, so I remember Link's past life as the last hero of the four sword. I'll bet you anything that Blue remembers how to wield his weapons better than the others. Red and Link, now, I don't know…"

"Quiet!" Bellum spat. Just then, he pulled his prisoners to their feet and pinned them to the wall. While they tried to struggle, Cole tied them in a back-to-back formation and smirked at his handiwork.

"Nice, work, old chap," Bellum smirked. "Now out of the way!" Cole leapt aside as Bellum charged a sphere in his tentacle and let it hit the two.

They screamed in one voice as black goo covered them first, then suddenly a tornado erupted.

"Behold, my greatest creation with veil power!" laughed Bellum as the tornado continued. "A Link with the powers of both Links combined, with the intellect of Vio, the driving instinct of Dark Link, and my great evil!"

Just then, the tornado stopped. Bellum laughed and floated forward a little. Lying on the ground now was someone who looked almost identical to Vio, but he was writing around in pain.

"Stop it!" he screamed. "Veil us back to our normal state! Please!"

"No," Bellum laughed harder. "Listen to your evil!"

The Link that Red now knew to be Shadow Link opened his maddened eyes.

"Okay," he began laughing as well. "The pain keeps my other sides at bay as well!"

Red was sent out of the vision with a scream, feeling for an instant the agony Shadow Link was feeling.

"Poor Vio…" he whimpered.

"It's okay," soothed Anjean. "Hopefully we'll find a way to undo it."

"I'll protect him from Link," Red swore. "But I'm scared of the freeze," he added. Just then, he froze in place.

Now, Anjean was the only one awake in the tower. As a matter of fact, she was the only one who wasn't a creature of darkness that was awake in the entire Hyrule.

"Ah, my heroes," she said gently. "When the world begins to stir, how we'll need you."

Shadow Link was walking next to a stream that now gushed darkness.

He was tired of listening to that stupid Zant. He was tired of obeying that stupid Ganondorf. But most of all, he was tired of having an inner fight between his three parts: evil, intellect, instinct. Why did it have to be him? Why would he have to watch the nightmare of the 5000 years unfold, utterly alone except for Ganondorf's minions.

What could be worse? What had he done to garner this attention?

**Author's note: **_Review and let me know if you want anything to focus on the 5000-year freeze, or if you want me to just skip to where Link, Red, Blue, and the others wake up!_

_Also, I will be on vacation for the duration of next week, but don't hesitate to review anyway. When I get back, I'll answer all questions!_


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: History of the Guardians**

**Author's note: **_Sorry about my lateness! I'm a bit behind schedule…_

_Well, I got no reviews with any preference. DON'T I HAVE ANY FANS OUT THERE? WAAAAAHHHHHHHH!_

_Sorry. I overreacted there. I know at least a few people are reading this story and like it. Well, besides that, since I have no preference about the 5000 year freeze, I'm going to write a few chapters on it. Just review and let me know when to stop._

_Also, this chapter has to deal more with my sort of partial OC characters (meaning that some might've already appeared in games, just with new duties and powers), the Guardians. It goes into detail about their histories, but that's going to be important in the next few chapters._

For those five thousand years, only Anjean was awake, in her silent, seemingly endless vigil. However, that didn't mean that she just stared into space all day and all night, either.

No. Anjean researched. Anjean prepared. Anjean was very busy, actually. She knew her duty: to prepare the tower for Zelda. To prepare for the return of the Sages and Guardians. To prepare for Link, the hero of lore, to reawaken. And there was much to be done.

Anjean knew very little about the Guardians. She knew the Sages very well, but the Guardians were an enigma to her. As a result, she spent most of her research time on them, learning about them as well as she could. The royal Hylian library had been destroyed, but Anjean had tracked down one of the most extensive and secret libraries ever known to Hylians: the library of a man known as Shad.

Unfortunately, Shad was frozen, as everyone else was. however, Anjean was able to gain access to his library all the same. Thankfully, it seemed that Shad and all of his ancestors, after they discovered the sky dwellers, had moved on to the Guardians. Anjean found that basically an entire room of Shad's underground library complex was devoted to the Guardians. So, for a major portion of the freeze, Anjean read about the guardians.

Book after book had been devoted to them, yet the books had never been published. All the authors had instead hidden the books. Anjean hadn't known that Shad's grandmother was a very successful thief, who had willingly devoted her life to stealing the books for her husband, then later her son and grandson. Shad wasn't as innocent and harmless as he seemed, then!

Anjean, however, was the one who benefitted from these books. She read them with the voracity of a young person cramming for a test. As a result, before too long had passed, she was as knowledgeable on the subject of the Guardians as she was on the Sages. She'd also uncovered some fascinating information.

She'd already known that the Sages were sort of the protectors of Hyrule, but hadn't known that their duty was also to protect whatever incarnation of Zelda there was at the time. The Guardians, meanwhile, were vastly talented in skills related to whatever they were the Guardian of. They were also the protectors of the Hylian hero known as Link.

Anjean had discovered to her shock that the current Link was fated to be strangely close to the Guardians. After all, for the first time, Link was related to all six of them.

Most of the time, the Link of the time was related to one or two at best, more likely none. However, the current Link, Link Castellan-Rose, was related to all six of them, being from the same family: the De Nyssa family. There were three branches: De Nyssa, Castellan, and Rose. It seemed, to Anjean at least, that somewhere along the lines of Link's ancestors, a Castellan and a De Nyssa had married, while a Rose and a De Nyssa had as well, and eventually, a descendant of each had married and had had Link. It also appeared that each of these ancestors of Link had been in the immediate family of each Guardian.

This became more and more shocking to her as she learned about each Guardian. They all seemed so different from Link, except for their incredible stories.

The first Guardian she learned about was actually the only one who had had to come to the aid of one of the Links before. Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans, had at the time been a real chicken. He'd been a real coward at first, who's initial contribution to Link's quest was to cart him from island to island for the sake of treasure and wishes. However, he'd bravely stood up to Bellum in the end, and though it did more harm than good, he made a brave stab at Bellum with the Phantom Sword, driving Bellum to Veil the two together. However, the Link of the time had managed to defeat Bellum and save Linebeck. However, Linebeck wasn't made a Guardian for that. He was made a Guardian after Bellum attempted to reincarnate himself. In New Hyrule, Bellum had tried to attack Jolene, whom Linebeck had fallen in love with and married, to take her form. However, Linebeck had attacked Bellum, being mortally wounded in the process, and prevented Jolene's murder. With his dying breath, Farore, the patroness of both Link and the Guardians, had made him her first Guardian. Jolene, however, hadn't had as good luck. After her son (and Linebeck's) was born, she left for the Great Sea, never to be heard from again.

The second Guardian had been made only a little bit later: Aurora, Guardian of Islands. She was Linebeck's twin sister, and had never really gotten over the death of her twin. She'd settled on Mercay Island, where she'd eventually entered the Temple of the Ocean King as its premiere priestess. She became the spokesperson for the islanders, so that they told her what was wrong and she'd tell the Ocean King what could be done to fix the issue. Any concerns the islanders had, they took to her. On the flip side, she ensured that they honored the Ocean King properly, so he wouldn't become angry with them. He was a pretty lenient god, but still… it was better that he didn't get angry. And for years, Aurora Castellan (Linebeck and Aurora were of the Castellan branch) had made sure that peace reigned in the Great Sea. However, all good things must end. The Temple of the Ocean King became corrupted once more with Bellum's energy. Aurora was forced to become Bellum's priestess then, because he now controlled the temple. However, she pleaded with the Ocean King, begging him to kill her, so that she wouldn't serve as the link between a king of evil and the islands she'd come to love. Instead of killing her, however, the Ocean King spoke with Ciela, Farore's messenger, who talked to Farore on his behalf. Before she could do anything, however, Bellum attacked Aurora, learning of her 'betrayal', as he called it. Before he could lay a hand (or tentacle) on Aurora, Farore transformed her into the Guardian of Islands. The people no longer prayed to the Ocean King to save their islands. Why would they have to, when they now had a Guardian of Oceans and a Guardian of Islands to protect them and all other incarnations of Hyrule. The Ocean King wasn't too happy, but was placated when they ousted Bellum and restored him; not as premiere deity (besides the Goddesses), but as their king. He was fine, then.

The third Guardian came from a different time and part of Hyrule. Karola De Nyssa was from the time of Twilight. He had lived in Castle Town and had worked as one of Zelda's finest guards. He wasn't the most gifted with a spear or a sword, the main weapons of the Hylian guard. However, he more than made up for it with his skill with a bow. He was by far the finest archer in the land. Some said he was Link's purple clone, Vio, reincarnated (He wasn't, but he _was_ Vio's descendant. After that Four Swords Adventure, Link's clones had disappeared and were rumored to have had families of their own). He could hit a cherry on a branch fifty feet away, and was charming besides. Zelda was so fond of him that she made him the captain of her guard. She even proposed marriage to him once; not that she loved him, she just saw him as a possible king. However, he'd gracefully declined. "Find your true love, princess," he'd told her at the time. "As I shall find mine." Not even a day later, Zant, acting for Ganondorf, had taken control of Hyrule. Of course, Karola hadn't been in the first fight. His ultimate duty was to defend his princess. However, when Zant's minions attempted to attack her, Karola had gone down fighting. How he had fought, taking out as many shadow beasts as he could before one struck him in the heart. Death was very slow, thankfully for Farore. She changed him into one of the Guardians as well, the Guardian of Warriors.

Karola had a sister as well, Heole. She was but a year older than he, but the two practically thought with the same mind, even though their areas of expertise were vastly different. She was an adept sorceress, while he was an archer. However, she dressed in armor, mainly because her best friend Ashei did. But no armor could protect her from poison. Heole was a very proud woman, besides being a little odd, and constantly kept a vial of poison around her neck, in case events didn't go the way she wanted them to. One day, when she was looking at Hyrule castle from on top of her roof, she noticed that Zant was storming the palace with his army. Realizing that Karola was in there, as well as that the humans were vastly outnumbered by the shadow beasts, she vowed that she'd never live in a country that was ruled by Zant the usurper and drank the poison. It was said that even as Karola was hit in the heart by the shadow beast, the poison entered Heole's veins. However, Farore, noticing her prodigious skill with magic, decided that Heole was a valuable asset and turned her into a guardian as well. She and her brother were reunited in the Sacred Realm, where it was said that even after she became a guardian, she kept a vial of poison around her neck.

The fifth guardian was perhaps the most remarkable. Selaya Rose had extremely mixed heritage, almost an experiment of sorts. His time period was also strange. As the time of Twilight and the time of Flooding were two different alternatives (though by the current time period, the timelines had merged back together), they were sort of two universes. These two universes were connected in some small places, and where Selaya lived was one of those places. His mother, who Anjean discovered, to her surprise, was a girl named Luda, daughter of Renado (it was from this Renado and Luda that Link's friend, the shaman and his daughter got their names). This Luda's father, Renado, was an adept healer, and was an expert on healing all races of Hyrule. Though he hadn't known it, his healing qualities were an inherent trait of the Sheikah, his race, though he'd been raised as a Hylian. He'd developed particular affection for a Zora woman once, and though their relationship was frowned upon by the majority of Hyrule, they married in secret. The Zora woman died in childbirth of their only daughter, Luda. Luda grew up with almost no traces of her mixed genealogy, and one day met a young man who, like her, was bi-racial. He thought he was Hylian as well, but in reality was half Twili. The two fell in love, and with secret prodding from Farore, married. Their son Selaya seemed normal, but Renado,the only one who knew Luda and her husband's true heritage, offered to raise Selaya and his eldest sister Vasilia, who both showed their true heritage more clearly than their siblings. Selaya had a very happy, albeit very training-filled childhood with his sister Vasilia. However, on Selaya's seventeenth birthday, Bellum, back for more, attacked him and corrupted him with evil energy. Vasilia, his sister, who loved him more than she loved anyone else, was forced to kill him in hopes that Bellum might be killed as well. However, Bellum got away. Before Selaya could die, Farore transformed him into the Guardian of Light.

Vasilia was torn apart by her role in what she thought was Selaya's death. She did nothing but cry for weeks on end afterwards, though Renado tried to comfort her. As a matter of fact, nothing could console her. Farore realized this, however, and turned her into the sixth and final Guardian of hers, the Guardian of Chivalry and Healing. Farore also made Vasilia the leader of the Guardians. When she was reunited with Selaya, however, none of this mattered.

And for all of the Links to follow, the Guardians defended them to their utmost abilities. However, according to a prophecy Anjean read, they'd been kidnapped by Bellum, corrupted by his wicked energy, and sealed within six different temples, each devoted to one of them. And it would be up to Link to rescue them.

Anjean sighed. She hoped that Link didn't turn on them as he had with Vio.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Shadow Link in the freeze**

**Author's note: **_Thank you to "A Fan" for being my second reviewer!_

_And to Rider of the Whales? A special shoutout. Thank you so much for your review. It's great that people are actually letting me know that they like it! Thanks to the unusual amount of enthusiasm, I'm posting this one early_

_Shadow Link: Please review! I'm sick of being a villain. And emo._

_Link: Shut up and play your part. I'm sick of being demonic towards you!_

_Shadow Link: It doesn't seem like it. Maybe you're just jealous because the first detailed review was a fan of mine._

_Link: Don't get all arrogant now. I bet the next reviews will be all 'I love Green (me)!'_

Pain…

Loneliness…

The urge to tear into himself…

Shadow Link was accustomed to it all by now.

How long had the freeze been going on? He didn't know. He also didn't care much. It was just agonizing, what he'd been through! All of the pent up emotional suffering of his previous lives was boiling up again, hurting him. The issue that he as Shadow Link wasn't exactly a natural creature was troubling as well.

He knew he was dying. Vio and Dark Link were trying to separate, yet had become the same, and that was weakening Shadow Link. He felt weaker with every passing year. It was barely noticeable, but his Vio side did it. A Nayru-brain through and through.

On top of that, Ganondorf and Bellum had thought it was funny that Shadow Link was assigned to work with Zant, the psycho of the bad side. Shadow Link was embarrassed beyond embarrassment that his working partner was Zant. Zant was always shrieking and flying around like a crazy person. At lest Shadow Link didn't do that. Besides, Zant wasn't truly evil, just insane.

His work wasn't very fun either. He was supposed to basically mess up Hyrule, which was beyond boring. Setting fire to houses with no one inside became mundane. Letting monsters loose in towns was amusing for about the first five minutes. And undoing puzzles? Forget being boring, it was mind-numbingly dull. Zant found their work fun, but Shadow Link hated it. If Shadow Link would just be appreciated, he would get much cooler work. This was just downright boring. It also gave his different sides time to try to fight instead of being fused more deeply.

As a result, Shadow Link felt as though every day was a civil war with himself. And that was never pleasant.

That day, Shadow Link was sitting by the bank of a small stream that passed where he usually hung out. He'd sit under an old, dead tree by the bank of the stream and think for days at a time. Well, he supposed that it was days. During the freeze, there was no real distinguishing factor between day and night. And no one exactly bothered keeping time. They were either busy, frozen, having too much fun with wild parties, or Shadow Link himself.

Shadow Link sighed. Because of Bellum's evil, he tended to be in dark moods often; sadness, anger, spite, pure rage, and the like. He hated all the emotions, which just gave rise to more dark feelings, building up his anger, his hatred of his clones, his power, his veil power. Yes, the veil power that ran through Vio's veins, the veil power that longed to be evil, to be with Bellum! Vio was the Hero of Twilight! The most powerful of them all! Yes! The others didn't appreciate him! They didn't care of his veil power, the power to split souls or to fuse them together! They didn't care that he'd become a wolf through being veiled to the statue of the sacred beast of the Twili! They didn't care about his shock when his beloved companion, Midna, had left. They didn't care that he'd been forced to marry Ilia when another wanted her! They didn't care that after her premature death in childbirth with their third child, he'd lost his capacity to love, he'd spent the rest of his short life wondering what Midna had said. Of course, they didn't know the tragic end that the Hero of Twilight finally came to: dying in the Arbiter's grounds, in the mirror chamber, alone in the world. He'd picked just the time when Ganondorf was returning; they'd actually both been in the mirror chamber at the time. At the time, Vio as the Hero of Twilight had had his guard down, didn't see Ganondorf when he emerged from the shadows, had never realized until the sword of the sages was in his gut.

Death had been slow and painful. He could've called on the power of the Triforce of Courage to save him, but didn't care anymore. He had lost his will to live, and all he wanted was for Ganondorf to leave. He'd felt like that at the end of his previous life as Vio: Hero of the Four Sword. He'd never had a pleasant life as either of his incarnations, and Ganondorf's laughter echoing through the chamber was making his death even less pleasant. However, Farore pitied her champion in those last moments and had brought Midna, now the queen of the Twilight Realm, to Hyrule one last time. Midna had driven Ganondorf away, at the cost of her own life as well when the now-cursed sword of sages had found its way into her stomach as well. However, she managed to fight Ganondorf hard enough for him to have been more than willing to run from the mirror chamber.

The two had then lain side by side in the mirror chamber, their blood mingling, Twili and Hylian as one. Vio had been first to go. It was said that Farore herself wept at the Hero of Twilight's death. However, she was in time to save Midna, to turn her into a Shadow Guardian, though Midna was never truly happy. She'd never told her beloved hero what she'd wanted to tell him. She'd never been allowed to join in any of the other of the Links' missions. Not that any of them were Vio anyway. Vio had suffered a tragic death and had lost his best friend two times too many.

All of these past tragedies were turning into fuel for the fire that now burned within Shadow Link. His other side, Dark Link, hadn't ever had it well either. He'd come, time after time, intending to be evil, until Four Swords Adventures. He'd then lost his life in a very different way: for the side of the good. And what was his reward? Being turned into a Shadow Guardian! Having his powers amplified slightly! Pathetic! They would've amplified anyway.

Shadow Link felt so sad, so angry. He wanted to fight! To used the combined might of Vio and Dark Link to their greatest abilities.

Alas, how could he fight his greatest enemy when his enemy was himself?


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Awakening**

**Author's note: **_I'm getting more and more reviews. Thanks to all who reviewed, namely Rider of the Whales (again! Thanks for being a loyal reviewer), Base Guardian (once 'A fan' and the other loyal reviewer) and Silverwing365!

* * *

_

_Was I really resting that long?_

Link felt as though he were awakening from a long, pleasant sleep. He'd dreamed of Zelda often, that was for sure, but how long had he slept, anyway? The light seemed different, the bundle in his arms was stirring-

Zelda!  
Just then, Link began to remember. He remembered what happened. He remembered what Anjean had said. Had the five thousand years really passed? Had what seemed to him a long a pleasure-filled sleep really been five thousand years?

"Link. You are awake."

Anjean was behind him. He turned to face her to see that the Shadow Guardians, Vaati and Midna, were both behind her, Vaati yawning and Midna rubbing her eyes. He turned around the chamber to see that Byrne was shaking his head as though to clear it, Blue had set down his hammer, puffing, and Red was opening his sleep-filled eyes.

"What time is it?" Blue asked sleepily.

"Exactly seventeen years before the freeze is to end, time enough for Zelda to grow up, for the rest of us to awaken as many as possible, and for you to begin your new mission," Anjean replied. Link looked out of one of the large doors leading into the tower's lobby to see that the light was oddly drained of color, and everything appeared to be in a starless night. Looking outwards even farther, he could see that a large group of monsters was roaming around. He wasn't sure what they were, but had a nasty feeling that they would prove formidable opponents.

Just then, he realized that Anjean had mentioned "a new mission."

"Did you just say new mission?" asked Blue in a surprised tone.

"Yes, and it is an unfortunate one indeed," Anjean replied in a grave tone. "Not only is the land plagued with unusual amounts of evil, but the six that could prove to be our last defense have been added to the offense. The Guardians have been kidnapped."

Link gasped, remembering the painting, remembering those beautiful, noble faces, remembering their incredible names. However, Red seemed a little oblivious. Blue, meanwhile, looked peeved.

"Ten rupees says that they'll be in their own temples," Blue mumbled and pulled out a yellow rupee.

"Not exactly," Anjean replied. "They've been held captive in dungeons."

Link held his hand out for the newest addition to his rupee collection, which Blue grudgingly paid, while Anjean explained the concept of the Guardians to all of them. She told the stories, and even got a tear out of Red's eye at the description of Vasilia's heartbreak.

"And now they've been kidnapped and are being held in dungeons of sorts," Link felt anger for some reason, as if his own family had been insulted.

"Exactly. You must rescue them!" declared Anjean. "Not only are they the Guardians, but they are your kin. Did you know that you can trace your ancestry back to the branches of the De Nyssa family that these Guardians come from?"

_So they _are _related to me,_ Link thought in wonder. _So I will have to rescue my kin._

"We will be able to aid you, hopefully, but more likely than not you will be on your own," Link turned to see a man clad in bright red with a white beard. Contrary to his obvious age, he radiated an aura of power, of health.

"I am Rauru, former Sage of Light and now Sage of Knowledge," he introduced himself.

"Why were you moved from Light to Knowledge?" asked Blue.

"Farore's servant, Selaya, was given the job. Had better credentials. It's alright with me," Rauru smiled. "As long as I am Nayru's servant, it matters not to me what job I have."

"Nayru's servants?" Red asked.

"Exactly," came a clear voice from the stairwell leading into the basement. Link turned to see a young Kokiri girl with green hair in a bob, forest green eyes, and wearing a green dress with brown leggings, a small fairy companion flying in lazy circles around her head. He would've betted anything that despite her young appearance, he was face to face with Saria, Sage of Forests.

"My lady," Blue bowed respectfully, causing Saria to blush.

"Rise," she demanded and walked towards Rauru. Just as Link was about to turn and look at her, he was surprised by a crash as what looked like a large, brown boulder rolled in and knocked the formerly standing Blue. It then rolled around to rest behind Rauru as well, then changed its shape to become a Goron. If Link could tell by the markings on his forehead, he would say that it was Darunia, Sage of Fire.

"We will help you as best as we can until you get the Guardians back," he said in a blunt yet reassuring tone. Link nodded in reply. He immediately liked this Sage, not as formal as Rauru and not a little odd like Saria. The Goron's eyes were kind despite his fierce appearance, and Link could tell that when he wasn't fighting, he'd be a good friend to have. The Gorons had picked their elder well.

"We may even be able to assist you in your journey," Link whirled around to see a young woman, maybe his age, facing him. She wasn't wearing anything, which was unsettling to the usually modest Link, but because she was a Zora he tried not to stare. She had nice wings, besides. And a pretty face, framed with a small pair of gold earrings. Her large, black eyes looked childish, but Link knew that she was very wise. How could she not have been when she was Ruto, Sage of Water? She simpered at Link and took up her position behind Rauru.

"Thank Nayru that there is no seal on us this time," Ruto laughed.

"Otherwise, our friend Link would be having to rescue twelve instead of just six," came a dry voice from the shadows. Link turned to face the tallest woman he'd ever seen, easily Byrne's height. She wasn't exactly beautiful, like Ruto and Saria were, but she radiated power and inner strength quite unlike the others. Her hair was gray like Rauru's, but she didn't look very old otherwise. Like Shadow Link, the shadows almost seemed to cling to her a little bit. Link knew by that that she was Impa, Sage of Shadows. She nodded to the Links, cast an approving glance at the Shadow Guardians, and stood at her full height (even taller than Darunia) behind Rauru.

"If you serve Zelda, then we'll serve you," Impa said in a voice no longer dry but strong and clear.

"For if you serve Zelda, you serve all of the races of Hyrule," a final strong, proud voice echoed throughout the Tower lobby. Everyone turned to see a young woman with brownish skin, large, dark, almond-shaped eyes outlined in gold and red hair carefully arranged in a ponytail, with some slim ornamental objects decorating her hair and forehead. She was dressed in a way that would allow her a lot of movement in battle, and Link could clearly see from the long scar running up her arm that she was a warrior. As she passed, Anjean and Byrne knelt to her. After all, they were the servants of spirits, and she was Nabooru, Sage of Spirits herself. She smiled at both of them and took her place behind Rauru as well.

"With our help, you'll surely be able to get back the Guardians!" declared Rauru. The other Sages nodded.

"Leave Zelda with us," Anjean added. "We'll care for her while you go through the temples." Link looked at the small bundle now sleeping in his arms, then nodded to Anjean. However, it wasn't Anjean but Vaati who carefully took the princess from Link.

"Goodbye, Zelda," Link whispered. "Hopefully when we see one another again you'll be able to understand. Don't worry." He then turned to Vaati. "Any harm that comes to the princess will be dealt with by me and me alone," he told him. "So don't get any ideas."

Vaati and Anjean exchanged a look, as did all of the Sages and even Red and Blue. It was so obvious that he loved her, but it seemed that the only person who was as yet unaware of that fact was him!

"Get the hot air balloon ready," Rauru ordered the Sages, breaking the awkward silence. He made shooing motions, earning sarcastic looks from Nabooru. Even so, she joined in when the other five Sages all hurried to the basement again, much to Link's confusion. Was his hot air balloon not still outside where he'd left it?  
"Wait, it's outside!" he declared.

"Was," corrected Rauru. "Anjean spent some of her time awake hauling it down there where it would be safer."  
Link turned to Anjean in wonder.

"You were awake this whole time?" he asked her quietly. She nodded gently.  
"It gave me a lot of time to find things out. Including where you'll be finding the Guardians," she smiled. Behind him, Red and Blue perked up at these words.

"Listen closely. You must find and rescue the Guardians in a very specific order. Each of their prisons gets harder, and each requires more power backing you. The first you must rescue is Linebeck. He is in the Ghost Ship's Barracks. That'll be the smallest dungeon that you'll have to brave, so only the power of the Sages will be able to sustain you," she explained. All of the Links nodded at these words.

"Wait, does that mean Linebeck is the least powerful?" asked Red.

"No," Anjean replied. "It means that he is the easiest to rescue as of right now."

Just then, with a final pull from Saria, Ruto, Rauru and Nabooru and a final push from Impa and Darunia, the hot air balloon made its reappearance. It looked very much the same as Link was used to, giving him a sense of comfort. He watched as once again, Blue prepared it for flight as Red did some warmups with his Wind Waker. He began to walk towards them, but just then, he felt Anjean's hand on his thigh.

"Link," she looked at him. "I think this will resonate with you the most."  
"Go ahead," he replied, not liking her urgent tone. Whatever it was, it was to be kept a secret from the others.

"Link, those last temples, the Temples of the Heroes, were very simple," she began. "They would be able to repel most people, but for the heroes known as Link and the tribes that revered them, the temples would be painfully easy. There were certain things there that each Link would be able to do easily, and pulled together, they'd pass the temples with flying colors."  
"Those places Red would disappear to! The temple system that to me feels at least a little familiar! The monsters for Blue!" Link realized.

"Right," Anjean smiled. "However, these next dungeons aren't designed like that. These are long, hard slogs with little recovery time. They're more than twice the size of those temples, with more monsters, rooms, puzzles, and the like. They weren't designed to be beaten. They were designed to make you give up. And possibly to kill you."  
"Bring it on," Link replied. "Farore's servants, eh? Well, it's more than fitting that I, Farore's champion, will be the one to rescue them."

With that, he leapt into the hot air balloon. Blue pulled at the stakes tying it to the ground and Red raised his Wind Waker.

"Farewell, heroes!" called Nabooru.

"Don't forget to write!" shouted Ruto.

"And especially remember: time moves differently in dungeons! So check often! You may find years have gone by while you've struggled!" Rauru gave them one last warning as Red began to conduct with his Wind Waker. The balloon slowly rose and drifted out from one of the large doors, which opened as it got near.

"Goodbye!" everyone within the Tower shouted. Vaati even held up the princess' hand in a waving motion.

Link waved in reply. It felt like the adventure was finally truly getting going.

* * *

The heroes had been flying for awhile when Red realized something.

"Wait a sec," Red clicked his fingers. "If we're off to rescue the servants of Farore, and Nayru's servants are in the Tower, then who are Din's servants?"

"We'll have to ask Anjean," Link replied. "We will anyway once we have rescued Linebeck."

"Or I could answer that question. I read, you know," came a high voice that Link hadn't heard for almost five thousand years.

"Shadow Link!" he cried and drew his sword. "Show yourself!"

"You're just going to kill me," Shadow Link replied coolly. He suddenly appeared several feet away from the hot air balloon, much to all of their shock.

"How could you appear in front of us after what you did to Zelda?" Link shouted, outraged. Blue put a hand on his shoulder warningly, while Red took a good look at Shadow Link. He didn't appear to be in very good health, actually. His skin looked ashy. His hair was long and tangled, filled with blood and dirt. His eyes were still maddened, but now the pain in his eyes was clear. Most of all, however, he looked tired. Malicious and evil, as he had before, yes, but now there was a tiredness to him as well.

"Link, he's suffering enough as it is," he warned gently. However, Link knocked him aside.

"Red!" Blue cried.

"Shadow, what do you mean?" Red called, not caring that he was feeling a little shaky.

"I could've answered that question," Shadow Link replied.

"Tell us, plea-" Red was cut off when Link shouted again at Shadow Link.

"We're not accepting information from _you_!" Link yelled and actually made a running leap at him, tipping the hot air balloon basket and sending himself, Red, and Blue into the sky, totally unsupported. Link continued trying to attack the hovering Shadow Link. However, Shadow Link just vanished when he tried.

"Curse him!" Link screamed, still wildly slashing at the air. Blue grabbed his hand and the basket, but Red was unable to grab anything and was falling through the air. He was going to fall, he was sure of it. And die.

"Wind, send me help," he prayed. It was the only thing he could think of as he went plummeting. He raised his Wind Waker in a frantic attempt to conduct, but knew that that would just slow the death he was certainly heading towards. He closed his eyes and prayed that it would end quickly.

However, as the others could see, that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

Shadow Link had teleported to Bellum's chamber, and was now waiting for him to return.

However, the only person who would speak to him (or even get close to him) was Zant.

"Bellum doesn't want you in!" Zant shouted. "Lower your voice," he instructed himself a minute later.

"But I have important information!" Shadow Link declared angrily. "You must let me speak to him!"  
"You won't listen to Zant, will you?" came an echoing voice throughout the chamber. "None want you hear!"  
"But sir," Shadow Link began. "The heroes have awoken. They're going to rescue the Guardians!"  
"Begone, will you?"  
Shadow Link slunk out of the chamber sulkily. Lately, Bellum hadn't let him have audiences with Ganondorf or with Bellum himself. Shadow Link often wondered what the point of his existence was now. Bellum obviously didn't care about him. Only Zant was willing even to work with him. Was it that his evil was fading? No, he still felt it. Was it that he snapped at most others? No, they were too busy snapping at each other to care.

Was it because he was daily growing weaker? Yes, that had to be the case. Villains weren't very humane, and didn't care how badly someone was suffering as long as they were useful or lack thereof. As Shadow Link was sure that he had about a year left to live at most, this was the most logical conclusion. The villains were turning on their creation, and Shadow Link was sure that they were ready and willing to let him die when the time came.

The heroes hated him, too. That was more of a victory than a defeat, however.

"See, Vio?" Shadow Link hissed to himself. "There's nothing for you!"

However, the feeling of almost apathy that met Shadow Link let him know that the little left of his identity that clearly identified itself as Vio was too miserable already to care.

**

* * *

Author's note (again): **_Everyone, guess why Red's not going to die!_


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Minstrel of the Wind**

**Author's note: **_Good job to Base Guardian for correctly guessing! Besides that, thank you to Silverwing365 for yet another great review, to Rider of the Whales for staying one of my two most loyal reviewers, and to Hazelholly for the advice.

* * *

_

Red was sure he was going to die. But then, he felt a small, slender hand grasp his own.

He suddenly felt like he was rising. Rising back into the basket. He wasn't gliding on the currents of the wind like he would in the hot air balloon. He was truly flying. Flying freely. Flying as though he had wings.

He opened his eyes to see in shock that the girl who'd rescued him was using_ her_ wings to get him back into the hot air balloon basket as Link and Blue watched in shock. She set him down in the basket, but before she could leave, he grasped her thin wrist in a gentle yet firm grip. Red wanted to know who this was, mainly to thank her.

"Thanks," he began. The girl blushed and looked away. Red took this opportunity to take a good look at his savior and realized in she was his age, though a little bit shorter. She was wearing a pretty blue dress and on her back, between her wings, a small lyre was visible. She had red hair, red eyes, and a large, yellow beak. Red had never seen anyone like her before.

"What's your name?" he asked.  
"Medli," she replied. She then looked at the sky nervously. "I am a Rito."  
"Mmm," Link nodded. "I've heard of them."  
"You seem nervous," Blue said quietly. "What's bugging you?"  
"More like, why are you awake?" Link mumbled. Medli just nodded and began her story.

"I am a Rito, as I said. Because of that, I can tell a change in the weather. Because we are a flying race, we must know these things, yes?" Red nodded.

"It's been weird," she continued. "This morning, all was normal until those black clouds rolled in. Then I feel like I went to sleep, except I couldn't remember the dream. Just now, I was waking up, realizing that it seems as though no time passed, but the Wind says otherwise. I heard it calling to me, saying 'Medli, Medli! I've woken you from a five-thousand-year sleep to aid the heroes! Go!' I looked at the sky and realized it was an odd color, but I spread my wings and took flight anyway. And then I find you!"

"Indeed, it is strange," Link replied. "It seems as if the different spirits, goddesses, and the like backing us are awakening those who will be helpful to us."

"And Medli just saved my life," Red smiled and let go of her wrist. "Thank you again, Medli."  
She smiled once more and spread her wings. However, one wing opened oddly and dislodged her lyre. She gently set it right and turned to the heroes once more. Seeing this innocent gesture made Red think of something. That girl he'd had a vision of before the start of the freeze, now that he thought of it, had had a lyre as well.  
"Can you play?" he asked Medli, indicating to the lyre.

"I can," she smiled. Red realized that she seemed to be the cheery sort. She was constantly smiling, something Red liked quite a bit.

"Play something for us," he begged. "We don't get enough music around here. Blue doesn't exactly use his ocarina a lot, if you know what I mean."

Medli laughed and pulled her lyre off her back.

"Any requests?" she asked.

"I don't exactly know much music," Red replied, blushing.

"Okay, then. I'll improvise," she smiled gently and put her fingers to the strings. Link and Blue both leaned forward, though Blue was distracted a moment later when he realized that a huge, black winged thing was following them. He motioned to Link, who hit it with the boomerang. Red, though, was not distracted. He was amazed by what Medli could play.

Oh, he kept conducting, but he was now conducting her. She strummed the strings, twisted her fingers, and created nearly magical harmonies with her music. Red could almost feel himself dancing to it. As a matter of fact, in his mind's eye, he _was _dancing. Not only was he dancing, but he could see Link there, too. Link was dancing with Zelda, except that she was his age. He could tell that the two were obviously happy together. Zelda's head was resting on Link's shoulder as the two ballroom-danced around the room, oblivious to Red.

Suddenly, Red realized that in this vision, Link and Zelda weren't the only couple dancing together. Red had a pretty dance partner as well.

It was Medli.

Just then, her lovely melody ended, leaving Red still in a trance-like state. What had it meant when he was hand in hand with Medli? And Link and Zelda? Did that mean that it would all be okay? Was that a glimpse into the future? Why wasn't Blue there? Was that a fragment of his own imagination? Or had Medli sent it to him with her music?

_It will all come in time, hero. _

Red started at the voice. Was that in his head, or what?

"I think we are almost to the Ghost Ship, which is currently docked at Lake Hylia," Medli interrupted Red's chain of thoughts. "My music has led us here. I sense that that is where you wish to be right now."

"Too true," affirmed Red. "We wish to rescue Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans."  
"Yes, I have heard of Linebeck," Medli affirmed.

"How did you know that we wanted to be here?" Red asked shyly.

"When I play the lyre, sometimes, the music shows me things," Medli replied, blushing. "I looked into Red's heart and saw where he wanted to go."

Red's cheeks flushed. Had she seen his little daydream?

"Medli, shall you help us in our quest?" Link asked. "We are the heroes known as the Links."  
"But there should be four of you," she replied.

Red felt sadness. Link was never going to learn . Didn't he see? Didn't he realize? Then Red remembered that no one other than he, not even Anjean, had seen what had really happened. None had seen Vio's horror. None had seen him struggle. None had seen Dark Link's resignation. None had seen the sadness in Vio's eyes.

Or had he? Was it just that he didn't pity shadow Link? Red had received the most of Link's capacity for emotion. Maybe that meant that he knew the different dimensions of emotion better. Maybe that meant that he noticed things that others didn't.

Maybe that meant that he had the greatest capacity to heal his darkened teammate, too. If it was possible.

* * *

Shadow Link had a terrible headache, and none of his 'teammates' were willing to help.

He'd gone to Aghanim, begging to be helped, but Aghanim had just refused to use his magic on him. Gufuu had been unwilling to help either. He still blamed the little bit of Vio that remained for veiling him from Vaati. Shadow Link had been so desperate when Ganondorf's greatest followers had refused him that he'd gone even to Bellum, to Malladus, to Cole, to Ganondorf himself, even to Zant. Only Zant had even offered to help him, but his advice had surprised Shadow Link.

"Turn to the light a little. It wouldn't hurt," Zant had said. "It may even help you."

Wasn't Zant supposed to be evil? Wasn't Zant supposed to hate any mention of light? Wasn't he supposed to tell Shadow Link to stay away from the light? Wasn't he supposed to be insane? However, when he'd asked Zant what he'd meant, Zant had been cryptic as usual.

"I didn't say anything," he'd said. "Shut up, helpful, you just wanted to see his cheeks turn red," he'd said to himself a minute later.

Shadow Link couldn't help but wonder. Was there more to Zant than met the eye?

And about turning to the light…

He tried standing near the few light sources in the darkness, but nothing happened. He tried calling on Vio, but he found to his surprise that too little of Vio as an individual was left for him to properly call on him. He couldn't have meant Link. Link hated him.

But wait! Red pitied him! Maybe that's what Zant had meant. Maybe he wanted Shadow Link to visit Red!

However, Shadow Link didn't want pity.

* * *

**Author's note: **_couldn't resist throwing that last scene in there. And Gufuu? That's another name for Vaati, in case you didn't know. It's also the name I'm giving to evil Vaati in this._


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: The Ghost Ship**

**Author's note:** _Sorry about the delay; I've been having internet problems._

_One of my readers (who hasn't reviewed my latest chapter… boo) requested that I focus a bit less on the temples. As a result, this chapter will be in two parts; one that focuses on what's happening with Red and Medli (who won't be in the temple) and the other that focuses on what happens in the temple. Please review to let me know if you'd prefer the original temple style, or if you like this one better._

_And now, as always, thanks to Rider of the Whales, Base Guardian, and Silverwing365 for your continued support!

* * *

_

Red looked out of the balloon to see Lake Hylia, remembering the last time they'd been there. In many ways, it felt like it had been just a few hours ago. However, so much had changed for them, so much had become different for the three heroes! Feelings had evolved, sometimes not in very pleasant ways (Red was thinking of Link's problem with Shadow Link). They'd been dragged into an adventure that Red was sure would affect the course of Hyrule's destiny. Yet it seemed, in a way, that despite all of the changes, everything was physically the same about the lake.

Medli peered over the side and pointed to the only thing that had physically changed in the five thousand years.

A monstrous black ship was floating right in the center of the lake. It was extremely weather-beaten looking, as if it had spent many a summer on the sea; the sail was raggedy, the wood was grey, the ropes were ratty-looking, and the wood was creaking so loudly that Red could hear it from where he was. In many ways, it looked like the mere ghost of a ship.

"Welcome to the Ghost Ship," Medli said quietly. "This is the ancient terror that roamed a tiny, magically sealed-off portion of the great sea. In a previous lifetime, it was you, Red, who ended its reign of terror."

Red turned to look at her in shock.

"You mean, I dared to fight this ship?" he asked. "I sent it packing? I'm not that powerful! And how do you know this?"

Medli pointed to the Wind Waker.

"I am guessing that you are the Hero of Winds and Phantoms," she replied. "Except you don't remember."

"Nope," Red turned pink.

"No, it's okay," Medli quickly added.

"Medli, you're as pink as he is!" Blue laughed.

"Besides, I go to school. I have heard of the great deeds of the heroes named Link," she continued. Indeed, Red noticed that she was rather pink.

"As did we all, Miss Medli," said Link. "Only I was aware of it. The other two were parts of me at the time."

With that, Red deftly landed their balloon on the top deck of the Ghost Ship. The other two looked around apprehensively, but Red shook his head.  
"No enemies in sight," he said quietly. "Weird."

"I don't like it," Link said nervously. "Anjean told me that these dungeons would be extremely dangerous."

"Well, Link, it seems that you don't like a lot of things," Red mumbled under his breath. Medli turned to look at him in surprise for a moment, having been the only one who heard him, before leaping down onto the deck from the basket of the balloon. Red hopped out after her, followed by Blue, followed by Link.

"Let's do this, heroes!" shouted Link. "Alright, I'm leading the charge down into the depths of the Ghost Ship. Blue is going to follow me!"

"Some charge," Red muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, Red!" Link replied. "Anyway, you're staying on the top deck with Medli to act as lookout."

"Hey, Link?" asked Red. "Remember what the Sages said about power and all?"

"I do," Link nodded.

"What if it's their power that is causing the enemies to not be on this level?"

"I doubt that. This lack of monsters is foreboding. As if they're here, watching us or something." With that, Link and Blue walked towards the hatch.

"Good luck," Medli said quietly. Red nodded his assent as Blue yanked open the hatch and leapt in, Link close behind. He couldn't help but feel a little worried. Medli seemed to sense this, because all of a sudden, he felt a slender hand slip into his own. He turned to face her to see that she was looking off into the distance as if trying to avoid his eyes. Out of shyness?

"Worried about them?" she asked.

"You bet," Red replied wholeheartedly.

"Mind if I hold your hand?" she asked after an awkward silence. "I'm nervous, too."

"Go ahead," Red replied. "I mean, you are already." She smiled in response.

The two stood in silence for several minutes, straining their ears to hear Link and Blue, while in the mean time keeping their eyes out for any monsters. Red noticed that the Rito girl's hand and his were gripped so tightly that the hand was losing color and feeling. No one had ever held his hand that way. After all, he'd only existed by himself for a short time. He had the vague idea that Zelda had held Link's hand in that way when they were just a bit younger.

Red wondered why he was so at ease around her. They'd just known one another for a matter of minutes, and yet, Red felt almost as if a piece of a puzzle that had been missing had been put back in place. He'd known her before, he knew it. And she seemed to know it, too. Or maybe she was just really friendly. She certainly seemed that way. She certainly seemed beautiful, too-

Red nearly jumped out of his skin. Where had that thought come from? Yeah, Medli was pretty-from an objective point of view! How could she not be? Her long, reddish hair was glossy and thick-like many Rito girls, probably, Red thought. Her wings were pearly and white, very becoming, what with her pretty dress. And her eyes? Just beautiful-oh, Farore, what am I thinking? Thought Red. No, she's not pretty. Well, she is; from an objective point of view, of course!

Little did he know that Medli's though process was nearly identical to his. At least, until she turned her head to the left.

"Red!" she cried. He turned around to see that from another hatch, a handful of monsters had appeared. They were all very large spiders, something both Red and Medli disliked and had mild fear of. However, that didn't stop them. Medli unfurled her wings and rushed at the first spider, which was probably as big as she was. Red, meanwhile, felt around for his sword. However, his hand instead made contact with the Flame Wand. He pulled it out, hand shaking, and prepared to seriously use his item for the first time.

Medli, meanwhile, made sudden contact with the massive spider. She was thrown backward and knocked senseless, but the spider exploded. Red had to fight the urge to run to her as he aimed the wand at the next spider, hoping that it would work of it's own accord. However, it didn't for several moments (they felt like hours to Red, but it was probably just a few seconds or so), until at last, a jet of fire shot out from it and consumed the large spider and the one behind it in flame. He held it just a little differently, however, and ice shot out of it to hit the last two spiders.

Then, he wasted no time in running to Medli.

"Medli? Medli! Are you okay?" he asked nervously as she stirred sleepily.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Red," she smiled at him gently. "Did you get those spiders? Sorry that I couldn't be of much help."

"Don't worry," Red replied. "Now, let's get back to our jobs. That is, if you can stand." With that, he offered his hand to Medli, who quickly pulled herself up using it.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" she asked. "They've been down there for quite awhile."  
"Time moves differently in dungeons," Red replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if several days pass before they venture out again!"

Medli shivered slightly at the thought. Or maybe it was the cold.

"Well, we might as well get to know each other better," she replied after a moment and sat down. Red flopped down next to her, careful not to hit her wing. The two just sat in silence for a moment before Red began to tell her about his adventure thus far, and about what he was meant to do. He was very pleased that Medli seemed to share his pity for Shadow Link.

"So that explains what you said earlier!" she cried softly. "Poor Vio. Poor Dark Link!"

"I know," Red replied. "Now, tell me about yourself."

Medli began to tell him of her childhood on Kolhirat Mountain, a mountain very similar to Death Mountain, except that it wasn't a volcano. It was right next to Zora's Domain (the Rito were distantly related to the Zora), and as a result, the Rito and Zora were good friends. Medli had been training to become the assistant to the Rito's protecting dragon, Valoo, instead of being a normal delivery Rito like the others. The only one who had fully supported her was her best friend, the prince of Rito, Komali. The two were very similar; they'd both been named for heroes from the time of the Great Flood (Author's note: in this story, the timelines have somehow merged once again, so there will be influence from both sides of the timeline), they both loved to fly, and they were both also great friends with the Zora prince, Ralis, who'd also been named for a great hero (though he from the time of Twilight). The three had spent much of their childhoods together, sharing stories of times past and talking about their futures.

"I wonder if they're unfrozen," Red said quietly.  
"I hope so, though I doubt that that's the case," Medli replied. "I think that even though the freeze is a time of darkness, it's kind of pretty. I wish I could share that beauty with Ralis and Komali."

Red smiled at Medli. She saw beauty in things that others did not, very similar to the way that Red could see emotions more clearly.

All through the talking, he wondered how Link and Blue were doing. He hoped they were okay. Even though he disliked Link's hatred of Shadow Link, he cared about Link. And Blue? He like the way Blue had offered to support Shadow Link.

* * *

"Yah!" shouted Blue as he killed yet another rat.

The Ghost Ship had been incredibly easy for them thus far. They'd only been in for a few seconds, yes, but it was nothing compared to what they'd come to expect. Link had been thinking that they'd be lucky if they fought just one dodongo at a time, but they hadn't even seen anything other than rats. The only thing that was bothering him was how quiet everything was. Were they on the wrong Ghost Ship?

"Well done, hero," came a voice behind them. Suddenly, Ruto's face appeared behind them, like a projected image onto the smoke. She giggled for a moment, then seemed to turn serious and just smiled at them.

"I've been able to protect you thus far. As a result, all the serious creatures got turned into rats!" she continued. Link nodded in understanding and thanks. Blue just turned away and killed yet another rat.

"Why are you protecting us?" Link asked.

"Linebeck is Guardian of Oceans," Ruto replied. "Very similar to me. And Lake Hylia is sacred to the Zora, so I have an obligation to try to help you get rid of this foul thing floating on its surface."  
"Thanks, Ruto!" Link bowed. "Oh. How's Zelda?"  
She smiled and shook her head gently.

"Oh, Link," she said. "You've been gone for a matter of five hours! She's awake right now, but she's not crying or anything. Oh, do you know a place with lots of milk, when she gets hungry?"  
"Lon Lon Ranch," Blue told her. "Malon works there. You'll have to wake her up, but it'll be worth it. Malon's got a way with cows. That milk is addictive, I hear. It's probably because I've heard it's delicious. I didn't have a bottle, but I won't be able to drink any other type with a clear conscience until I try hers!"

"Or is it because you think Malon's hot?" Link asked, smirking. Blue turned red and punched him. Link just smirked, remembering the way Blue had seemingly been charmed by Malon.

Ruto just smiled and disappeared. She'd have to tell the others to wake up Malon while she kept protecting the hero. This way, two birds could be killed with just one stone. Zelda would now have a good source of food.

The other bird? Blue would be happy. Ruto was pretty sure of his feelings for Malon. She'd also heard all of the subtle hints that Blue wanted Malon to be awoken. And Ruto felt that the Guardians owed Blue. After all, he was the Hero of Time, was he not?

He wasn't acting very hero-of-time-ish at the moment, however. He continued glaring at Link as the two continued in the dungeon. On the other hand, he seemed to have learned a little since the temples, and ceased trying to make bets to Link. Link seemed rather happy about that as well, for in this dungeon, there could be no distractions.

Even on the next floor, the dungeon became exponentially harder. The minute Link and Blue stepped off the staircase, they noticed that there was a weird liquid on the floor. It was shining brightly, emitting a soft glow that just barely illuminated their surroundings. That wasn't out of the ordinary. What was, however, was the fact that when Link turned to face Blue, there was no Blue.

"Blue!" Link shouted in fear.

"Link?" came Blue's voice. "Where are you?"  
"Where are you?" Link asked in reply and clutched at the empty space where the voice was coming. Suddenly, he felt a hand grasp his own.

"Listen, it's not as if I want to hold your hand, but that appears the only way," came Blue's voice.

"I wonder why we're invisible?" asked Link, strangely taking comfort in the hand that he was holding. If he weren't holding Blue's hand, he'd feel as though he were the only one on the deck.

"Maybe to protect us from those," Blue pointed to a black shadow that suddenly passed their haven. "For some reason, Ruto hasn't changed the creatures down here. And whatever that reason may be, it can't be good."

Just then, the black shadow turned around to face them. It couldn't see them, but even so, both Link and Blue tensed up.

The creature was just so scary. It's rotting face just made Link's skin crawl. Why was it holding that blood-stained scythe? It looked like the stereotypical Grim Reaper. It's death shroud reminded Blue of a mourner. But what were these things mourning? Their own deaths?

I let my crew die, came a voice in their heads. The voice sounded furious with itself. I was a coward and ran away. Hardly becoming for a Guardian! Well, I wasn't one yet, but still.

Link and Blue gasped identically, and Link ran out of the safe zone to follow wherever the voice was coming from. He'd forgotten totally about the Grim Reaper thing as he heard the voice again, this time in a specific direction. Link gasped and picked up speed. Little did he realize he was being followed until all of a sudden, he felt a gust of wind on his back. He whirled around to see that the thing was raising it's blade to strike him.

It was all over.

* * *

"What was that?" asked Medli nervously.

Red picked up his flame wand and stood back-to-back with her. Though she had no particular skill in fighting, she could flap her wings and distract the monsters, something Red had discovered just a few minutes ago. They'd been keeping watch for about three hours now (not counting when Red had played the Song of Passing), but Link and Blue still weren't out. Red wasn't too worried about that, but he was worried about the increasing monster activity on the deck. It appeared that they'd been discovered.

"There it is again!" Medli cried, breaking out of the stance and pulling herself into Red's arms, a gesture Red wasn't used to. What was he supposed to do, exactly? He heard the low growl coming from inside the hatch, and supposed that that was the reason that Medli's head was now buried in his chest, her arms wrapped in a death grip around his shoulders. Of course she was scared. He was as well.

"It'll be alright," he began, soothingly pulling his own arms around her. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Just then, the hatch banged open to reveal a massive, hulking creature. It was easily twice as tall and several times as wide as Byrne and Impa put together, though Red suspected that the thick armor and the helmet with the horns added a bit of size to the figure. It was wielding a sword that was easily the size of Blue, if not bigger. Not a pleasant thought.

"Okay, that's probably right up there with 'the worst that could happen.' Not meaning to scare you, Medli."

"It's alright, Red, I was thinking that already."

* * *

"The heroes are in danger."

Shadow Link felt like talking to someone, anyone, and had ended up going to Zant. After all, Zant could stand to get near him. Since he could vaguely feel what was going on with his counterparts, he decided to tell Zant about them. Maybe Zant would be interested.

Turns out, he was very interested.

"What do you mean?" Zant asked.

"I mean, they foolishly have tried to rescue Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans," Shadow Link smirked. "Link and Blue actually went downwards to look for Linebeck, but as I speak, the Guardian himself, veiled to Bellum, is attacking Red and his girlfriend."  
"Why did they even run into trouble in the dungeon in the first place?" Zant grinned. "All they have to do is to rescue those girls and those crewmembers, and activate the Light Switch. Then Linebeck's power will be restored. Anjean said how difficult these dungeons were, but didn't count on the fact that someone interfered and cleaned up the first few floors of the dungeon, making it much easer."

Zant turned away from a rather confused-looking Shadow Link and walked down the hall, smirking.

"Zant?" Shadow Link asked. "What's that?"

_Oh no, he's seen it._

"Nothing, Zant replied, tucking the lyre more deeply into his small pack. No one could see his lyre. Though Shadow Link didn't know what it stood for, if he told Bellum or Ganondorf, Zant could kiss life goodbye.

They'd been thwarted by the meaning of the lyre too many times to count.

* * *

**Author's note**: _wow, I've written a lot of these in this chapter, haven't I? Well, anyway, I'll say now for those of you a who don't know a little background information on the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship is from Phantom Hourglass. Tetra went exploring aboard it and was captured, causing Link (Link who was the Hero of Winds, who if you didn't know already has been reincarnated as Red) to chase after her and get taken to a different Great Sea than from Wind Waker. With the help of Linebeck, a sailor (and Guardian of Oceans in this story), Link managed to rescue Tetra and defeat Bellum. The 'girls' referred to are the Cubus sisters, girls in the game who challenged Link to a very dangerous game in which he must reflect their energy orbs with his sword and hit them with the orbs. "I let my crew die" refers to the Phantom Hourglass manga, in which it is said that Linebeck and his crew were exploring aboard the Ghost Ship. During that time, Linebeck noticed that his crewmembers were turning into reaplings (or those Grim Reaper characters on the Ghost Ship), and instead of rescuing them, he abandoned them to their fate and saved himself, a decision that haunted him throughout his days._

_Sorry, that was a bit much info. But isn't the chapter a bit easier to understand now?_


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans**

**Author's note: **_This next boss battle is a modified version of the final boss of Phantom Hourglass, in case you didn't know. Also, Phantom Hourglass is a DS game; look for my little tribute to the fact that the DS has two screens (something that is used greatly in both that final battle and the Spirit Tracks final battle)._

_Now that it's chapter 20 (I mean, there was a prologue, but even so. Also, we may or may not be halfway through at this point; I know that there will be at least fifteen, more likely more, chapters), I think that it's time to give shoutouts all around._

_Thank you so much to my most loyal reviewers, Base Guardian (once 'A fan'), Silverwing365, and Rider of the Whales. Thank you also to Hazelholly for your review. Thanks also to Jesse for your very critical and very detailed review. Finally, thank you to UltraViolet for my first review on any of my stories._

_Also, thank you to all of those who added this story to favorites: CrimsonLaurana, Rider of the Whales (again), RykiRikyr, Base Guardian (again), Silverwing365 (again), and Angelboy1989. Now for my final thank you, to those who subscribed to my story: Kyogreperson, abandonthemyriad, CrimsonLaurana, RedSkyTiger, Rider of the Whales (yet again), RykiRikyr (again), Silverwing365 (yet again), Base Guardian (yet again), and Hazelholly (again). I'm so glad that you enjoy this story!_

_Now, a final thank you all around, and let the fun begin!_

* * *

"Link…"

Red and Medli gasped as they heard a voice calling Red's proper name. Who was it? And why was the voice coming out of the helmet of the massive creature? Did it know him or something? Or was he a veiled creation?

Instantly, Red was reminded of Vio. Was another poor soul suffering the same way? If they were, Red would have to help.

Just then, the figure charged at Red and Medli, sword held aloft. Medli shoved Red one way and leapt the other with a scream, hoping to distract this massive creature. However, it paid almost no attention to Medli and whirled to face Red.

There the three were; the massive creature in the middle of an undrawn circle, Red on one side, Medli exactly on the other. The difference in what they were seeing was so stark that if they could put it together and see both sides at once, they would be stunned. Red was of course seeing the Phantom side, the thick, brown armor and the helmet with the seemingly tortured face. Meanwhile, Medli saw the most horrible creature on it's back. It had a bright yellow, bloated-looking body with an angry-looking purple eye in the center. The eye stared at her hungrily, scaring the wits out of her and fascinating her at the same time. It had purple tentacles, all with their own eyes. The odd thing was that all six of the tentacles were pointed at…

At her.

"Red!" she shouted. "It looks so weird back here!"

"Really?" he replied. "I can't really pay attention to that right now. Sorry!"

He ran forward with a yell, intending to hit the creature's breast plate and do some damage to it. However, it's reaction was far from promising. The creature acted as though nothing had happened, as though he hadn't just been hit by the four sword, one of the strongest swords in Hyrule, as Red would learn later. Now, however, it could've been a toothpick for all the thing reacted.

Instead, Red shot his ice wand at the creature, hoping to get a better response. However, the creature ducked aside. Red realized to his horror that the ice ball that he'd intended for the creature was now going to hit Medli.

"Medli! Duck!" he screamed. However, Medli was still watching the creature's back, which Red still couldn't see. He shouted at her again, but by the time she realized that the ice ball was going to hit her, she whipped out her lyre, all the while still facing the creature. Red closed his eyes, not wanting to see Medli freeze right before his eyes.

"Red!" Medli's voice screamed. Red opened his eyes to see that not Medli, but the creature was frozen.

"What happened?" he asked, running over to her.

"I reflected the ball from you to him using my lyre," she replied.

"But how-what-why?" Red sputtered.

"I don't know, but you better go now before the ice melts!"

Red trotted over to the creature, where he pulled out his sword and walloped the open eye on its back. He had no way of knowing if it were working or not, but he took a try at it anyway. Medli shouted encouragement at him, though she didn't get close. She knew that she'd probably just get in the way. After all, she wasn't the best fighter in the world.

Suddenly, the ice around the creature shattered and it skidded away from Red, ready for more. However, Red was smarter this time. He didn't even bother trying to strike, instead waiting for Medli's go-ahead signal. She was standing right behind the creature, and had a perfect view of the thing at the back. Unfortunately, it had several eyes trained on her. And it knew very well that she was the one who'd hit it earlier.

Without warning, two tentacles reached out and snatched Medli. She fought them, beating her wings and smacking at the tentacles, but all that happened was that two more tentacles grasped her. She fought harder, even lifting off the ground and hitting them with her lyre, but it was no use.

"Put her down!" screamed Red. "Please!"

For the first time (and unfortunately not the last), Red heard the creature's voice in reply.

"No," the creature stated in that that terrible voice. Somehow, Red knew that it was that creepy thing with the tentacles talking. "I need her."  
"What'll you do her?"  
"Turn her into one such as Shadow Link!"

Medli cast Red a desperate glance. With a scream, Red ran forward and began hacking at the breast plate of the creature, but to no avail. He didn't want to lose Medli, though, so kept trying.

"Give me one good reason that I don't do it to her," the thing that had Medli was talking to Red now.

"I love her!"

The words were out of Red's mouth before he realized what he just said. He really loved her? They'd only known another for a matter of hours (not counting the song of passing). Medli's eyes widened in shock.

"We've only must known each other for-"

"Medli, love doesn't have a time limit."

"Oh, Red. Not meaning to be sappy or anything, but I-"

The tentacles wrapped around her mouth before she could say anything. Red launched himself at the creature with a roar again, but was knocked backwards. He went skidding across the ground, feeling a little stunned, disoriented, hurt, and heartbroken that he'd failed rescuing the girl he'd just admitted his feelings to. He'd lost and he knew it. His Medli would meet a fate akin to that of Shadow Link.

Suddenly, however, like a ray of sunshine peeking out from behind clouds after rain, a thin beam of energy appeared, concentrated at the creature's eye. Red and Medli watched in equal surprise as the large creature, with a wail, seemed to split in two. On one half, the humanoid half, it collapsed. The armor began to separate. If Red would've watched, he would've gone over to the figure that was now lying on the ground as though unconscious among the armor. However, he was too busy watching the other half, the squid-like half, fly into the air suddenly, as though flung.

"I've still got the girl!" the squid laughed as Medli struggled once again. However, his elation was put to a stop when a second beam of the energy hit him in the eye once more. This beam seemed to be slightly stronger than the last, though less concentrated.

The squid dropped Medli, who began to plummet towards the deck of the ship. However, just before she did so, a figure materialized right below her, holding out his arms to catch her. As a result, she had a very soft landing. Not that she cared. As soon as the figure gently pulled her upright once more, she ran over to Red and pulled her arms around him. He returned the gesture very gingerly, wary of her wings.

"Red, what I wanted to say earlier was that I-I love you, too!" Medli gasped and buried her face in his chest.

"Oh, Medli! I'm so glad!" Red cried and tightened the embrace slightly. The two then looked for one another, contented in one another's presence, for a moment, though it felt like several days. Such was the miracle of the first love (Link and Zelda didn't count because Zelda was currently unaware that Link even existed) in five thousand years. Secretly, Din, Farore, and Nayru rejoiced. As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons that they'd had the wind awaken Medli anyway. She'd be a perfect match for Red, while being a valuable asset to heroes as well, it was true.

But for Red and Medli, the fact that the five thousand year freeze was even in effect, the fact that Hyrule was now under an influence far darker than anything ever before that had happened, the fact that their lives were now in constant danger all evaporated when their lips met for the first, but definitely not the last time.

"Well, I guess that settles it!" Medli said with a laugh. "I'm not leaving you guys anytime soon!"

"I'm glad you found out what she was to say," a voice interrupted their small exchange. Red pushed Medli out of the embrace and turned to face the talker.

It was none other than Shadow Link.

* * *

Link suddenly heard a mysterious melody play throughout the ship.

"The sun's song. But it's on a lyre!" Blue declared. "Hey, where'd that creature go?"

Link opened his eyes to see that the creature that a minute ago was about to kill him or worse was now gone, and the deck they were on was flooded in light. Blue was standing above him, face creased in worry. Blue offered his hand, pulling Link up, and the two turned around to face a mysterious, but definitely benevolent figure.

He was a few inches taller than Blue, but his presence made him seem much taller. He was wearing a long, blue coat that reminded Link and Blue of the sea. His eyes were blue as well, also sea-blue. His hair was long as well, though it was dark. Link immediately noticed that he held a map in one hand. Blue, on the other hand, noticed that he had a sword in a scabbard around his waist.

"Greetings, heroes," he said in a clear voice. "I have just been rescued by your clone above and his female companion. Because of that, I am now able to appear to you like this."

"Greetings, Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans," Link replied. "It is an honor to meet you. But… you are-"

"Not like the Linebeck of legend?" Linebeck smiled. "It's true, I seem more cleaned up, and I seem less cowardly."  
"But why?" Blue asked. "You can't have changed that much."  
"No. No one can. But someone can face their fears. For the most part, I have done that," Linebeck seemed a little sad, now. "The one thing that is still bothering me is the loss of my crew. They're still wandering around at the bottom deck as reaplings, like the things that you just saw."

"How do we get to the bottom deck?" Link asked.

"There's only one way down there, and that's with the key from the Cubus sisters. There are four of them, scattered through the next two decks. If you find and reunite them all, they'll challenge you to a deadly game. If you survive it, you get their key. Then you'll reach the bottom deck. I don't know what I could do, but I'd like to try."

"We shall try for you, Linebeck!" Link and Blue cried together. Linebeck smiled once again. Then he seemed to realize something.

"Neither of you are the hero that I knew!" he cried.

"Then you must've known either Red or Vio, curse him," Link's face darkened.

"Oh well. I'm awakening on the deck. I'll have to go now and see who Red is," Linebeck waved them goodbye and disappeared.

"Let's go," Link said to Blue. "We have a Guardian's request to deal with."

* * *

"Shadow!" Red cried as Shadow Link began to walk forwards. "You saved us?"

"Yes, I did, actually," Shadow Link replied. By now, he was face to face with Red, the closest he'd been to another living thing in almost five thousand years. Medli and Red didn't shy away from him. Rather, Red stepped forwards to meet him, while Medli followed him closely.

"Thank you so much!" Red said happily and smiled widely at Shadow Link. However, his smile faded when he saw the sadness in Shadow's eyes.

"I didn't do it for you," Shadow said quietly. "I didn't do it for her, either."

"Of course you didn't," Medli said matter-of-factly. "I've never seen you before anyway."

"Hold your tongue," Shadow Link snarled, before seemingly regaining composure of himself. "Sorry. I wanted to stay calm with this meeting, but it seems that I'm losing control. Well, anyway, I didn't do It for you two. I did it for what you were saying, Medli."

"You mean 'Red, not meaning to be sappy or anything, but I-', right?" Medli asked.

"Right," Shadow Link replied.

"Why?" Red asked.

"Once, someone began a statement such as that. Someone I truly care about. All I ever heard from my best friend was 'Link, I-' before she broke herself off. I never saw her again!"

Red searched his mind for which Link had those words associated with him. Suddenly, it hit him.

"You were the Hero of Twilight, weren't you?" Red asked quietly. Medli drew in a breath.

"Yes," Shadow Link replied. "Or rather, the little bit of Vio that is still Vio was."

"You never found out what she was planning to say?"  
"Never. Regardless of what side you are fighting for, I don't want you to feel the same way."  
"I knew that your goodness would pull through!" Red smiled widely.

"No," Shadow Link replied. "It isn't goodness. It's the fact that I don't want anyone to feel it. If the situation had been that you were Bellum, Ganondorf was you, and Medli was Ganondorf's love, I'd attack you."  
"Even so, thank you," Red smiled. Then he realized something. "Wait, Ganondorf? He has someone he loves?"  
"Yes," Shadow Link replied. "So remember. Don't ever put yourself in a situation when you are like Bellum was today. Because then I'll attack you."

With that, he faded.

"Oh, Red!" Medli ran into his embrace again. "I never expected him to be so… sad. So heartbroken. I'm glad that he saved you from being that sad."

"I know," Red replied. "That's why I feel for him."

"Feeling for him is a very admirable thing, O hero in red," came a voice behind Medli and Red. Red whirled around to see that the tall, dark-haired figure that he'd rescued earlier was now standing up. After a moment, he suddenly broke into a smile and rushed towards him.

"Link! Hero of Winds and Phantoms! I knew I'd meet you again!" he grinned and hugged him. "How you've grown! You haven't forgotten me, have you? Oh, of course you wouldn't!"

"And I thought Guardians were supposed to be serious and mature," Medli smiled. "Linebeck, as I assume you are, please let him go before you strangle him."

"Sorry." Linebeck turned pink and released Red, who was looking a little stunned. He had known a Guardian in a past life? Well, he certainly didn't now. He supposed his memory would come back in time, however. He had a feeling that that was important. And besides, he was feeling the same déjà vu feeling that he'd felt when he'd first met Medli, he realized.

I knew them both in past lives, Red thought. How good it is that though there is evil all around us, at least we get to meet people that we knew and possibly loved. At least, in this horror, we have friends standing behind us.

"Now, come on, Link!" Linebeck laughed and took his hand, dragging him into the hatch.

"Linebeck, here I must tell you," Red said quietly. "I'm known as Red now. I have three clones who are named-"  
"Link, Blue, and currently Shadow Link, I know. I only called you Link out of habit," Linebeck replied. "Old habits die hard, I guess." Then he broke into laughter. Red just smiled.

"Do you prefer Red?" Linebeck asked a minute later as he threw open the hatch.

"I do, actually," Red replied.

"Got it, Red. Now that that's cleared up, let's go and help those clones of yours!" with that, Linebeck walked inside, Red following hot on his heels.

"Wait for me!" Medli laughed and trotted behind them.

"Who's that?" Linebeck asked. "I was only told that you're travelling with two of your clones, not some girl."

"That's Medli," Red replied.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Linebeck smirked. Red was stunned. He supposed that someone would ask him that one some time, but had no clue how to answer! Was that kiss and those words just a fluke, or were they going to stay together?

His question was answered when Medli finally caught up with them. Not even hesitating, she slid her hand into Red's palm.  
"Red, I'm a little scared, but if you keep holding my hand, I'll be fine," she whispered to him.

"Yes, she is, actually," Red turned to Linebeck with a small grin. "And boy am I glad that she is."

* * *

"Yes, die, you creepy Phantom Ganon-esque creep!" Blue screamed and swung his sword at the energy balls the Cubus sisters had shot at them.

He and Link had been playing a deadly game with the Cubus sisters for several minutes now. They'd managed to defeat the red Cubus sister, though she'd given them a hard time. The other three (red, green, and purple), were worse than she, however.

"Phantom Ganon-esque?" Link asked Blue quietly.

"The one thing I remember about a past life is rescuing Saria from Phantom Ganon," Blue replied. "Come to think of it, these are a sort of cross between the Poe sisters and Phantom Ganon. NOW DIE!" The last words were aimed at the green Cubus sister as he reflected yet another ball. However, she just laughed and shot it back at them.

"Isn't this fun?" she cried with a laugh and tossed another into the fray.

"No, it's not, actually," Link growled. He was very frustrated. His boomerang and Blue's hammer didn't work. This was the one place where having Vio's arrows would actually assist them rather than causing trouble. Well, admittedly, the flame wand or Medli would do the job just as well. Still, Link had just had his first positive thought about Vio, a milestone even of itself.

However, it was soon interrupted when the green Cubus sister suddenly burst into flames and the Blue Cubus sister collapsed. Link and Blue whirled around to see Red lowering his flame wand and Medli's feet touch the ground.

"Need a hand?" Linebeck asked from behind the two newcomers. "We've got it covered." With that, Red aimed his flame wand at the purple one and Medli prepared to fly again. Even Linebeck seemed to charge an energy ball between his hands. Then, in a moment in which time seemed to slow down, all three launched their attack at the unfortunate sister.

"I have been defeated!" she howled. Then, seeming to regain control of herself, she dropped a creepy-looking key and flew off with a final cackle of "Come play with us again!"

"Well, that was easy," Link declared and scooped up the key. "Now let's finish this!" With that, he began to stride off. After a moment, Blue followed him. Then came Red and Medli, who were holding hands once more. Finally, Linebeck brought up the rear, whistling a song that sounded strangely like the "Ode of the Master Sword". Medli stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Hmm, that sounds familiar…" she mumbled before grabbing Red's hand once more. The little group continued walking, killing the occasional monster, until they reached the lock for the key. Link handed the key to Linebeck and he and Blue stepped aside. It was then when they realized Red and Medli were holding hands.

"I take it something happened up there that brought the two of you together," Blue said with a smirk.

"Yep," Medli replied cheerfully. Red just nodded as Linebeck finally opened the door and the group sauntered down to bottom of the Ghost Ship. The first thing that they all noticed was that it was crawling with Reaplings.

"Your crew?" Link asked. "If so, it was big." Linebeck nodded and stepped out of the puddle of that glowing substance from earlier. Instantly, he was faced with several of those weapons of theirs. Link closed his eyes, not wanting to see their new ally die.

However, when all the reaplings slashed, a blinding light exploded, causing the reaplings to emit cries of agony in unison. Link and Blue turned to see that Red had struck a large switch with an emblem on it. Neither got close to the switch, but if they had, they would've seen that the emblem was of a wave, the symbol of the ocean. The symbol of the Guardian of Oceans.

When the light subsided, the reaplings were all shimmering. They seemed to be morphing into people who Link was pretty sure were pirates. However, they looked rather transparent, like ghosts. Then, in a single movement, they all knelt to Linebeck, who was now glowing. Link, Blue, Red, and Medli followed suit. After all, it appeared that Linebeck had finally been returned to the full status of a Guardian.

"My crew," Linebeck was now speaking to the ghosts. "This has been hurting me for many years. I am sorry that I left you to become reaplings to save myself."

"What do you need to be sorry for?" one of the ghosts asked.

"We forgave you long ago," another said.

"You acted as any of us as humans would've," yet another finished. "Why are you so upset with yourself?"  
"Survivor's guilt!" Red piped up.

"Not only that," Linebeck continued. "You say that I acted as a human would. Yet I am not human, not anymore. I am a sacred Guardian of Farore. If you truly forgave me, my power would be released once more."

"It already is," a ghost that appeared to be the quartermaster said. "Look at yourself."

As Linebeck followed his orders, the ghosts disappeared at once. It was as if they'd never been there. Linebeck exhaled, then realized that the remaining four were kneeling.

"Why the formality?" he said, laughing. "I'm still Linebeck! Now come on; let's go rescue my sister!"

* * *

"You helped the hero, didn't you?" a voice thundered.

Shadow Link screamed as he was hit with more dark energy than he'd known existed. It felt as though fire was burning in his veins, burning him from the inside. At the same time, it felt as though his skin was being torn open, his muscles clawed at by the monster that was the energy, his bones ground to bits, his brain liquefied (he knew what it felt. Unfortunately, a Wizzrobe had thought it would be funny if Shadow Link veiled his consciousness temporarily to another Wizzrobe that was being tortured in the same way. However, Bellum had gone a bit farther and had actually liquefied it's brain. Shadow Link had barely made it out of that one alive).

"Sir," he whimpered. "It was Vio! Vio took control!"

"You lie!" the voice bellowed again. "You said yourself that Vio and Dark Link no longer exist; that there is just you, Shadow Link!"

"Well, there's enough left to leave me with instincts from Vio!" Shadow Link gasped. "It won't happen again."

"It had better not," the voice finished ominously. With that, the monstrous squid known as Bellum left the room. Shadow Link, however, lay writhing on the floor for a minute longer.

He wouldn't be able to take much more of this.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Lon Lon sleep**

**Author's note:** _Wow, it took me forever to continue, didn't I? Well, I'm assuming that at least some of my readers had exams like I did, and exams need studying for, especially if one wants all As on their exams like I did. Add to that the fact that my computer broke down, this is making for one very late chapter. FORGIVE ME!  
Anyway, thanks as always to Rider of the Whales, Silverwing365, and Base Guardian. Thank you also to James Birdsong._

_Believe it or not, the temples and the final battles are really intense to write. For now, I shall be taking a short break from the temples and instead focus on the other elements of the quests and on some other characters. Besides, Malon (and-SPOILERS-Ilia) need introductions, as they're going to become more important.

* * *

_

"Something's wrong. But what?"

With that disquieting thought in mind (and on her lips, though she didn't know it), Malon looked at the sky in apprehension. Usually the sky was a telltale sign that something was off. Malon was a rancher's daughter through and through, and had learned from a young age onward how to listen to the subtle signs that the sky gave her. The clouds alone were a good indicator for her. The ranch was in a very flat pasture, giving the shadows of the clouds great visibility as the clouds floated across the sky.

However, now, despite the great darkness in the sky, Malon could find no trace of clouds. It was as if the sun had been blotted out by something wicked. After all, it couldn't have changed this much in the blink of an eye. Malon had dozed off just a minute ago, tired from her morning. Yet in those few minutes (or so she thought) of resting, the world around her had dramatically changed, and not completely for the better.

Malon looked around, just then realizing how faded everything looked. It was as if the color had been drained from the place, leaving it looking decrepit and sad. Malon was reminded of a blanket that had been used too much. Or maybe a blanket that hadn't been washed quite right. A blanket that was now reacting negatively to the wrong washing potion, or the wrong temperature of the water. Thankfully, looking at herself, Malon realized that she wasn't faded-looking at all. But why?

Malon realized that she didn't hear the quiet crunching of the cows anymore, a sound that had been in her ears since she was a baby, the trademark sound of Lon Lon ranch. What was going on? She also realized that she no longer heard the sounds of Ingo and Talon's argument from behind the barn that she'd been hearing all morning. Had they resolved a major conflict in that argument? She hoped so. The fighting was giving her a headache. Maybe she'd go and see what was going on. Malon was quite curious about what was happening back there. She was curious about a great many things, actually.

Like that blue clone of Link's…

Malon smiled to herself. There could never be too much of a good thing. And as she'd been friends with Link since they were ten years old, Link counted as one of those good things.

* * *

Malon received the shock of her life when she walked to where her father and Ingo had been arguing. Well, they were still there, but were frozen in place, looking as faded as everything else. It appeared that they were stone statues. Malon was horrified. She even screamed, before realizing that whatever had frozen everything might still be around. In which case, she had better be careful. She clapped her hands over her mouth, stopping herself from screaming on. Then, she realized that her breathing was very loud as well, and willed herself to relax and think about it in a logical way.

Was she the only one left on Lon Lon Ranch? Probably, since it was only inhabited by Ingo, Malon, and Talon, though occasionally her cousins would stay there as well. And right now, neither Romani nor Cremia were staying there. They were at their own ranch, where they sometimes did business with Talon and Malon. Well, it was really Cremia doing business with Talon, as Malon was just a farm hand and Romani was but a young child. Malon idly wondered if Romani and Cremia were frozen as well.

Were Talon and Ingo kidding with her? Malon seriously doubted it. Their postures and their faded colors looked to real, and Malon couldn't hear their breathing. She could still hear their own, though, and willed herself to quiet down even more. Even so, she could still hear herself. Not one other sound was present, anyway. Malon had never been so aware of her own breathing as now, in the most silent moment she'd ever experienced.

What was going on? Malon seriously didn't know.

"Papa?" she asked. "Ingo?"

No response. They continued staring straight ahead, unblinking and unmoving, still in positions that suggested an argument. After several attempts, Malon finally gave up. Sighing, she walked back into her house, back into her room, back onto her bed. There she lay down, staring at the ceiling as she was liable to do whenever bored or worried. Being a farm girl, Malon didn't have a lot of time or money to spend in idle pastimes, so she just enjoyed staring at her ceiling and imagining things. The girl had become quite imaginative, as a matter of fact.

What would she do now? She couldn't stay at her home; the idea of having her father and Ingo frozen behind the barn was very unappetizing to her. Despite her vast imagination, Malon couldn't imagine herself doing chores and such with Talon and Ingo frozen, staring at her whenever she walked behind the barn. Come to think of it, would she even be able to do chores? Malon was now pretty sure that the cows, who had looked faded as well, were also frozen. And she assumed (correctly) that the cuckoos and the moinks hadn't been spared.

Besides, now that she thought of it, what would happen if monsters came? The fear of an attack was in the air. And Malon wasn't exactly a world-class fighter. As a matter of fact, she was pretty terrible. What would she do if monsters wandered onto her ranch? Hide in the barn? They would probably follow her.

_Monsters could already be on the ranch, _Malon thought, her fears rising to the levels of hysteria. Quickly, she leapt off her bed and looked outside. Thankfully, there were no monsters in sight. Though Malon didn't know it, they'd already been through Lon Lon Ranch several times and had taken a few things over the course of 5000 years. As a matter of fact, just a few months ago, Shadow Link had hidden in the barn when some bokoblins had decided to torture him for fun. He'd run out of other hiding spots, but they never ran out of ideas of torturing him. The few times they'd caught him hadn't been pleasant for Shadow Link. And they wouldn't be very pleasant for Malon if they caught her. Lying back down onto her bed, Malon heaved a sigh. She was strong, strong enough to lift a pitchfork over her head with one hand, but she had no clue how to fight.

However, she realized, she was very fast. Fast enough to outrun any monster. Malon had an advantage there. If she could just make it to Hyrule Field, where her path would be unblocked, then maybe she'd be okay. Lon Lon Ranch had many places to hide, but not very many places to run. Hyrule Field, on the other hand, offered miles and miles of free terrain. As a matter of fact, Malon thought, the Tower of Spirits was somewhere in Hyrule Field. The Tower wasn't used much anymore, but it might be able to offer her sanctuary. Attempting to run all the way there without being seen and without tiring was a risk, but Malon was ready for it. She had always wanted to just take a risk, but hadn't ever had the courage or the reason to. Unless one counted arguing with Ingo as a risk. Come to think of it, he _did _look pretty menacing with that pitchfork.

With those rebellious thoughts in Malon's mind, she leapt off of her bed and into an adventure. On the way out of her home, she grabbed one of Ingo's knapsacks, filled it with snacks and a change of clothes, and sauntered off, off into a darkened world, certain that she was now alone. She was leaving everything she knew for and indefinite period, and as she closed the gate of the ranch behind her, she felt more than a little sad.

And surprised. As she had been walking through the ranch, she realized that there was a single cow following her. It was her favorite milking cow, another reminder of home. So maybe she wasn't totally alone as she skipped through Hyrule Field. The cow behind her provided at least some comfort, a small piece of home in a huge, unfriendly world.

And indeed it was unfriendly. Just then, a horde of moblins laid eyes on her. Malon heard (and smelled) them coming before she saw them and broke into a run. The cow that had followed her moved as quickly as it could behind her. Thankfully, Malon had an edge against the moblins speedwise. Combined with the fact that she was in Hyrule field, things were looking very good for the farm girl.

That is, they were looking very good for her until she tripped.

She tumbled into a heap on the ground, leaving herself very much exposed. When she tried to rise again, she gave a cry of pain. Of all times to break her ankle! What luck she had! As the moblins approached, wielding their weapons and chattering menacingly, Malon squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that they wouldn't torture her too badly before killing her.

"Please. Get it over with. Please!" she gasped to herself.

However, the end never came. Just then, Malon heard a thundering of hooves.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Ranch girl and country girl**

**Author's note: **_Thanks to Silverwing365 and Base Guardian for the usual reviews, and thanks to Tajistt for a very critical review!This chapter's short , but I've been sick and am behind schedule.

* * *

_

Suddenly, Malon felt herself being pulled upwards by a slender, rough hand. It was calloused, like hers, as though the owner of the hand was used to hard work. Perhaps a farmhand, like herself.

Just then, a moblin swung at her. Malon heard a scream, possibly her own, as the moblin grabbed at her injured ankle. However, thankfully, just then, a second hand grabbed her wrist and heaved her even farther upwards. Malon realized now that whoever had rescued her was riding on a horse's back. A rather large horse, from how high she was pulled up.

"Hiya!" shouted a voice as the horse galloped off, Malon still hanging by her wrist. That changed as soon as the rider pulled her up a little bit farther up, using both hands. Soon, Malon was riding on the horse's back behind the figure who'd pulled her up. Malon realized almost immediately that the rider was female. That in itself was rather odd. Usually, girls didn't ride bareback anymore. Rather, they preferred riding in the newfangled carriages or something. Malon herself sometimes would ride horses, but she herself preferred running or walking. It didn't her legs as sore.

"Look out!" the rider suddenly shouted, making Malon realize that one of the moblins had thrown a spear. Both young women immediately ducked.

"Whoa, what's with them?" the rider asked, turning around to face the moblins.

It was then when Malon recognized her. Why hadn't she before? The short, blond hair, the pants and loose shirt, the palish skin, all giveaway signs. Yet Malon had somehow failed to recognize her until her blue eyes had met the rider's gray, almond-shaped ones.

"Ilia!" Malon cried. "So you're unfrozen too!"

"You bet I am," Ilia replied. It was really weird back in Ordon. Just five minutes ago, my dad and I were out helping Fado herd the goats. I'd turned around to look to see if Link had made it back yet, because I heard this sudden commotion. The next second, the sky is this weird, grayish color and nothing except me is moving. Earlier, Vaati had warned me about some sort of 'gathering darkness'. I think that this is that darkness."

"Are you serious?" Malon asked incredulously. "Hyrule hasn't been invaded by darkness since the days of twilight!"

"My ancestor was the Twilit hero," Ilia murmured. "I'm the last known descendant of a hero who carried the name Link. It used to be my mother as well, but she died when I was born. I know that there are others here and there, but I'm the only one who has conclusive proof."  
"And what's that?" Malon asked, seriously doubting her rather imaginative friend. Ilia pulled off her necklace and showed Malon the horseshoe-shaped charm.

"This was his horse-call. That's how I summoned Epona earlier," Ilia explained.

"Wow! So where are we going?" Malon asked.

"I just met up with the three heroes. They said that I should get myself to the Tower of Spirits. They themselves are going on a quest to rescue the six servants of Farore, the Guardians. They already rescued one, Linebeck, Guardian of Oceans, so there are five left. Oh yeah, and there's another unfrozen girl travelling with them. Red's girlfriend," Ilia answered.

I'm a little lost, but okay," Malon said, relieved that the girl travelling with them was taken by Red. "I'll come to the tower with you. Wait, what about my cow?"  
"Let's just hope that the moblins don't get it," Ilia replied grimly. "Now come on, Epona!"

With that, she spurred the horse forward. Thankfully, Epona was very fast, faster than any of the moblins. She left them literally eating her dust as the two girls sped off to the Tower of Spirits. The moblin didn't even bother giving chase. It knew when it had lost a battle, and now was one of those times. It did, however, shake it's stick at the girls and swear in moblin a little.

The masters wouldn't be pleased.

* * *

"Shadow, did Bellum give you a hard time again?" Zant asked.

"Leave me alone. And yes, he did," Shadow Link answered crossly. "He's a very good lieutenant to Ganondorf. Very… pitiless."

"He does have qualities that make him a good lieutenant," Zant agreed. "Pitilessness, greed, a good head for battles… and ambition."  
"What does ambition have to do with anything?" Shadow Link asked quietly.

"He'll stop at nothing to impress Ganondorf," Zant replied carefully. "He'll stop at nothing to increase his chance of becoming the leader instead of lieutenant. If it came to it, he'd hold a coup to get Ganondorf out."  
"How much worse could it be if Bellum took charge?" Shadow Link asked carelessly.

"Trust me, Shadow. I know I've acted a bit nuts in the past, but you'll have to trust me. It would be worse. Much worse. Particularly on you."

* * *

  
**Author's note: **_This was kinda short, but it included some info that will come back to bite in, let's say, ten chapters or so. Ooh, foreshadowing rules!_


End file.
